The Russian Health Ministry has issued a permit to conduct the post-registration clinical trials of the CoviVac shot against the coronavirus infection with the participation of 32,000 volunteers. The corresponding information was published on the website of the state register of clinical trial permits of the Russian Health Ministry on Tuesday. (TASS)

“An open comparative study of the preventive efficacy and a non-comparative study of the immunogenicity and safety of the CoviVac preparation (a whole-virion inactivated concentrated purified coronavirus vaccine), produced by the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products of the Russian Academy of Sciences on healthy volunteers aged 18-60. The beginning of the trials kicked off on June 2, 2021, and will end on December 30, 2022. The number of patients amounts to 32,000,” – according to the information posted on the website.

The register also indicates that the trials will be held on the basis of 16 medical organizations in Kirov, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Obninsk, Chelyabinsk, Tatarstan, Zheleznogorsk, Stary Oskol, and Novotroitsk.

On February 19, the Russian Healthcare Ministry certified the whole-virion inactivated CoviVac vaccine, developed by the Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Either artificially weakened viruses incapable of causing a disease or dead (inactivated) viruses are used in whole-virion vaccines.