Go slow on Russian Covid-19 drug, experts warn
The Russian Defence ministry on Wednesday said it had developed a “safe” coronavirus vaccine following clinical trials on a group of volunteers. AFP PHOTO
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- However, he added that it is still too early to make substantial claims on therapeutic efficacy and draw conclusions because of the very low sample size of 18, calling for more than 100 people.
Although the Russian Covid-19 vaccine is a ray of hope into the coronavirus fight, it needs to go through other phases before its rolled out to the public, experts have said.
“Vaccines are developed in phases and the news that have come out is that it is one phase. A vaccine has got to go through additional phases so that they can be in the public health setting,” Dr Andrew Kambugu, the executive director Infectious Diseases Institute, yesterday said.
The Russian Defence ministry on Wednesday said it had developed a “safe” coronavirus vaccine following clinical trials on a group of volunteers.
According to the AFP news agency, the ministry said 18 people had participated in the research and were discharged without “serious adverse events, health complaints, complications or side effects”.
The results of the trials “allow us to speak with confidence about the safety and good tolerability of the vaccine”, it said in a statement.
More than 13.5 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed and at least 587,779 deaths reported globally.
Dr Ekwaro Obuku, the former president Uganda Medical Association, said the vaccine is a positive development in the Covid-19 fight.
“This is an early phase vaccine clinical trial that looks about for safety and tolerance of the vaccine making healthy humans. It would have passed biochemical tests and trials in animals before reaching this stage,” Dr Obuku said .
However, he added that it is still too early to make substantial claims on therapeutic efficacy and draw conclusions because of the very low sample size of 18, calling for more than 100 people.
