MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. COVID-19 vaccines remain effective in spite of the virus mutations, Vladimir Dedkov, deputy director of the St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, told reporters on Friday.

"The safety margin of the vaccines is such that, in principle, it will not have any significant effect. Therefore, despite the fact that the genome of the virus is changing, vaccines still remain effective," Dedkov said.

According to him, changes in the coronavirus genome structure "do not dramatically affect the antigenic structure."

According to the latest statistics, about 183 million people have been infected with coronavirus worldwide and more than 3.9 million deaths have been reported.

To date, 5,561,360 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 5,035,518 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 136,565 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.