MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. Volunteers taking part in the third stage of the clinical trials of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine developed by the N. F. Gamaleya Federal Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology will not be hospitalized, head of the center Alexander Ginzberg told TASS.
"Of course, the volunteers won’t be hospitalized beforehand. All of them will come and go from their homes," he said.
Ginzburg added that the volunteers would donate blood for testing on the first day of the trials. "This is done so that there will be a starting point, so that we can compare a rise in antibodies," he noted. The next blood test will be made in 21 days after the first vaccine shot and in 21 days after the second one.
The researcher said that so far, there is no final protocol on clinical trials after the vaccine’s registration, however, he assumed that the trials would be less rigorous.
Earlier, Ginzburg said that all volunteers taking part in the clinical trials of the vaccine would receive insurance and would get a compensation.
On August 11, Russia became the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, which was named Sputnik V. Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko informed that the vaccine created by the N. F. Gamaleya Federal Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology had shown its effectiveness and safety on the outcomes of clinical trials. It was created on a platform that had been used for the development of a number of other vaccines. According to the Russian Health Ministry, experience shows that such vaccines are capable of developing long-term immunity that lasts for up to two years. Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev pointed out that Russia had received applications for more than 1 bln doses of the vaccine from 20 countries.