MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology is finalizing phase 2 clinical trials of the Sputnik V Light coronavirus vaccine, Alexander Gintsburg, the center’s director, said in a televised interview with Rossiya-24 news channel on Friday.
"The Gamaleya center managed to actually conduct phase 1. Now we are completing phase Two clinical trials of this vaccine," he said.
Gintsburg added that Sputnik V Light would not be rolled out in Russia, where Sputnik V was still used for vaccinations.
"That vaccine [Sputnik V Light], which consists of only the first dose of the vaccine we use [Sputnik V], will be used in the counties that are currently incapable of developing similar vaccines and that are short of funds to purchase timely the vaccines that are being developed in other countries," Gintsburg said.
The Gamaleya Center’s director pointed out that the Sputnik V Light vaccine aims to eradicate coronavirus throughout the world.
More than 107.8 million people have been infected with coronavirus worldwide and more than 2.3 million deaths have been reported. To date, 4,042,837 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 3,559,142 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 79,194 fatalities nationwide. The Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.