Russia to register world's first ever official COVID-19 vaccine on August 12

In a major development Russia is all set to register its first vaccine against the coronavirus on 12 August. The announcement was made by Deputy Health Minister Oleg Gridnev said on Friday. The vaccine has been developed jointly by the Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry. "At the moment, the last, third, stage is underway. The trials are extremely important. We have to understand that the vaccine must be safe. Medical professionals and senior citizens will be the first to get vaccinated," Gridnev told reporters at the opening of a cancer centre building in the city of Ufa, according to Sputnik News.

Clinical trials of the vaccine began on June 18 and included 38 volunteers. All of the participants developed immunity. The first group was discharged on July 15 and the second group on July 20. Gridnev also added that the effectiveness of the vaccine can be measured when the population has developed an immunity. It is said that the country is expecting to o start the mass production of the vaccine from October 2020. Moreover, all expenses related to the vaccine will be covered in the state budget. The following development makes Russia the first country in the world to register a COVID-19 vaccine, since the outbreak of the virus in Wuhan in December 2019. Overall the global coronavirus cases crossed 19,000,000 on Friday