Russia completes 1st phase of COVID-19 vaccine trials

Two Russian medical research centers completed the first phase of COVID-19 candidate vaccine trials on Wednesday.

Two groups of 18 volunteers were discharged from hospitals after separately taking part in 28-day clinical trials in the First Moscow State Medical University and the Main Military Clinical Burdenko Hospital.

Before being released, they had a medical checkup and passed a blood test to study the development of an immune response to the novel coronavirus, the officials of both medical establishments told reporters.

The preliminary findings show that the vaccines are safe and well-tolerated, no serious complaints, complications or adverse reactions were registered during the trials.

On the 42nd day after the first vaccination, the volunteers will have to return to the hospital for a day to undergo a final medical examination and diagnosis.

Meanwhile, scientists of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology based in the city of Novosibirsk managed to develop antibodies neutralizing the virus, Olga Dorokhova, secretary of institute's working group, said.

Further development of the study will allow scientists to create means of specific therapy and prevention of COVID-19 disease. The results will also serve for studying the immune response to coronavirus and will be in demand when improving vaccines.

In the last 24 hours, nearly 6,500 more coronavirus cases were confirmed in Russia, bringing the overall count to almost 746,400 with 211,350 active cases.

Over the same period the death toll neared 11,800 after the virus claimed 156 more lives, and around 10,500 recoveries pushed the tally to beyond 523,200.

Since originating in China last December, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 579,000 lives in 188 countries and regions.

More than 13.34 million cases have been reported worldwide, while over 7.39 million patients have recovered so far, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.