Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said on Wednesday that Russia hopes to start industrial production of the vaccine against the emerging corona virus (Covid-19) in the coming September and October.
Gulikova said during a video meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, dedicated to the Covid-19 epidemic, that the two vaccines that Russian researchers worked on "are among the most promising vaccines today."
The first vaccine was developed by the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Nikolai Gamalia Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology. Golikova said that it is being tested in humans.
"Its production is slated to launch in September 2020 after its approval and additional clinical trials for 1,600 people," she added.
The second vaccine is being developed at the Victor Research Center in Siberia and it is also clinically piloted for trials to end in September before being certified in the same month, according to Golikova, who added that first doses can be produced in October 2020.
For his part, Putin said that there are currently more Russian vaccines under development, but he stressed that their efficacy should be "absolute" before the start of vaccine production.
Russia hopes to produce with its partners 200 million doses of a vaccine against the Corona virus before the end of the year, if clinical trials succeed, as confirmed last week by Kirill Dmitriyev, head of the Russian sovereign fund that funds the development of the vaccine at the Nikolai Gamalia Center.
Russia has officially registered 82,890 cases of Covid-19 epidemic, including 13,673 deaths.