Russia’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed that fifty soldiers (45 male, 5 female), all of whom are volunteers, will participate in tests as part of the county’s Covid-19 clinical trials.
On the 26th of May, the Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, informed the Russian President Vladimir Putin that completion of the vaccines clinical trials is scheduled for the end of July. As a result, the Russian government has announced that seven scientific centres in the country are working on the development of a vaccine against Covid-19 as well as drugs to fight the disease.
Over the weekend, the Russian Ministry of Health announced the registration of the first specific drug for the treatment of Covid-19. Researchers who created the drug Afivavir, based on the Japanese antiviral drug Favipivarir, claim it is highly effective against the new coronavirus. Furthermore, from the 11th of June, 60,000 individual doses will be released to hospitals across the country.
Russian Health Minister, Mikhail Musrashko, said today that they “are focused on finding a pharmaceutical component to control the situation (epidemic). If we can create the necessary medical technology with the help of medicines, we will be able to return to normality.”
The vaccine has been developed in conjunction with military experts from the Ministry of Defence’s Scientific Research Centre No. 48, one of the facilities where the clinical trials will be conducted.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
