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Coronavirus pandemic

Vector center registers second Russian COVID-19 vaccine

Registration of the third candidate preparation is due shortly, according to the president

© Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS, archive

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the registration of the second Russian vaccine against coronavirus and the coming registration of the third candidate.

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"I would like to begin with pleasant news that the Novosibirsk-based Vector center has registered a second Russian coronavirus vaccine EpiVacCorona," the Russian president said at a meeting with cabinet members on Wednesday.

"As far as I know, we have a third candidate vaccine from the Chumakov center of the Russian Academy of Sciences," Putin said.

The Vector State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing was authorized by the Russian Health Ministry to conduct clinical trials of its vaccine on volunteers on July 24. On September 30, the vaccine was officially licensed. The Vector vaccine contains synthetic peptide antigens that are fragments extracted from the virus. The vaccine based on those antigens provokes an immune reaction against coronavirus and helps to develop immunity.

The Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products at the Russian Academy of Sciences is to start clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in Kirov and St. Petersburg on October 19.

On August 11, Russia registered the world’s first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. The vaccine, dubbed Sputnik V, was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Health Ministry. Its clinical trials were successfully completed in June-July.

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