RIO DE JANEIRO, May 5. /TASS/. Venezuela has launched clinical trials of Russia’s EpiVacCorona vaccine on Tuesday. Russian Ambassador to Venezuela Sergei Melik-Bagdasarov was the first volunteer to take part in the trials, the diplomat informed TASS. The vaccination event took place in the presence of Acting Vice President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez and Health Minister Carlos Alvarado.
Rodriguez thanked Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin for allowing Venezuela to hold clinical trials of EpiVacCorona on its territory. She expressed confidence that this is "a good vaccine" and hoped that Venezuela would be able to use it to inoculate its population.
The acting VP also noted that the approach by Moscow and Beijing when it comes to vaccine supply is different from the position of other large countries in a good way. "[The approach] of Russia and China differs from the position of some countries that accumulate vaccines for themselves, creating a disbalance in access to vaccines at the global level," she told the Venezolana de Television TV channel.
For his part, the Russian ambassador expressed his confidence to TASS that the Russian jab would successfully undergo all clinical trials in Venezuela and would be approved for use in this country. "I am very glad and honored as Russia’s ambassador and as a citizen of my country to take part in the trials of the new Russian anti-coronavirus vaccine EpiVacCorona by [our] Venezuelan partners. I am confident that after undergoing all the procedures necessary in Venezuela, this Russian vaccine will be registered here, just like Sputnik V was before that," the diplomat stated, noting that Geropharm, the Russian company, which produces the jab, is well known in Venezuela for supplying insulin.
In late March, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro informed that the country had received the first batch of EpiVacCorona for clinical trials. He added that Venezuela plans to purchase the vaccine in the future. The Venezuelan government plans to inoculate 70% of its population by the end of 2021, using jabs received from Russia, China and Cuba.
About the Russian vaccine
The EpiVacCorona vaccine developed by the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector was handed over to Venezuela in late March during a visit by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov to Venezuela. Venezuela was the first Latin American country to approve the use of Sputnik V and to launch trials of EpiVacCorona.
EpiVacCorona was the second COVID-19 vaccine registered in Russia, on October 14, 2020. Within a month, the developers of the jab got the permit to hold post-registration clinical trials, namely among seniors.
On May 2, the Vector center informed TASS that according to the trials, EpiVacCorona forms antibodies to three coronavirus strains: the traditional one, and the British and the South African ones. Vector pointed out that the results of the first and second phases of the trials and the post-registration trials, namely among volunteers over 60, offer no reason to doubt the safety of the vaccine or its ability to form antibodies.