Russia hopes to produce some 200 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine with its partners this year, if clinical trials are successful, a senior Russian official said on Monday (July 20).
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The first stage of clinical trials in Russia " has already been completed, and the second is due to end around August 3, " Kirill Dmitriev, chairman of the Russian Sovereign Fund which funds the development of the Russian vaccine, said in an interview at the site. Stopcoronavirus.rf.
According to him, the third stage of the tests should then take place both on Russian territory and in several other countries, in particular in the United Arab Emirates, in Turkey and in Africa, and result in certification in Russia " from August ". “ Right after that, we are planning to start mass production ,” Kirill Dmitriev said.
The Russian Sovereign Fund expects partner countries to approve certification of this vaccine " in September, " according to the same source. Once certified, the vaccine will be produced both in Russia and other partner countries, with total production expected to reach “ 200 million doses by the end of the year, ” including 30 million doses produced in Russia, said insured Kirill Dmitriev.
Cyberattacks
The announcement comes as the UK, US and Canada last week accused Russian intelligence services of being behind hacker attacks to get their hands on research into a coronavirus vaccine. .
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The UK government's cybersecurity agency on Thursday accused a group of hackers of targeting organizations working on a vaccine against the novel coronavirus in order to steal their research, saying it is " almost certain " that they operate for Russian intelligence. These accusations have been vehemently denied by the Kremlin.
Russia, world number 4 in number of contaminations after the United States, Brazil and India, has officially recorded 777,486 cases of coronavirus to date, including 12,427 deaths.