MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. Russia will begin to vaccinate medics against COVID-19, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus, next week. The vaccination of medics will be carried out concurrently with the post-registration trials, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev told reporters on Thursday.
"Vaccination of high-risk groups (medical professionals) will begin at the same time as the post-registration clinical trials. The people who will receive the vaccine will be duly monitored to ensure that all procedures are followed. After the registration, vaccination can begin, which will take place in Russia, for the most part," Dmitriev stated.
He added that the vaccination of high-risk groups would be voluntary, just like the vaccination of the Russian population on the whole.
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 Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology had shown its effectiveness and safety on the outcomes of clinical trials. It is based on a platform that had been used for the development of a number of other vaccines. According to the Russian Health Ministry, practice shows that such vaccines are capable of developing long-term immunity that lasts for up to two years.
Deputy Director of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology Denis Logunov said that on the outcomes of the clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine, volunteers developed no serious side effects. The most common side effects documented after vaccination are pain in the injection area, hypothermia and headache, he explained.