Russia's Gamalei Institute Expects to Launch Human Trials for COVID-19 Vaccine by 15 June

At the moment, Russia has the third-highest number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in the world, yet the country has managed to keep the death rate at relatively low level, with 326,448 infected and 3,249 fatalities.

According to Russian medics, preclinical testing has shown good results, so it is possible that a vaccine against the coronavirus will be produced by the end of summer. Gamalei Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology director Alexander Gintsburg on Saturday stated that he took the vaccine himself.

"We have been given deadlines, of that which we need to do under the conditions of the pandemic and so that by the end of summer we can start production. Unfortunately, this production will not immediately allow us to immunise a large portion of the population of our country, but unprecedented efforts and actions are currently being taken by the health authorities to organise mass production when the vaccine is registered", Gintsburg said.

French lab scientists at Pasteur Institute in Paris

© AP Photo / Francois Mori

Numerous medical institutions across the globe are currently trying to find a vaccine to stop the pandemic, which has already claimed over 330,000 lives worldwide.

Chinese researchers have recently reported promising results from an animal trial, while US biopharmaceutical company Moderna is developing an mRNA vaccine with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.