MOSCOW (Reuters) – Belarus is considering conducting a 100-person trial of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, the health ministry said on Thursday, adding that potential participants can now apply online at eight local clinics that have been selected to conduct the trial.
The trial, one of several that Russia hopes to conduct abroad, is still pending regulatory approval, the ministry said, adding it had received paperwork from Russia and was inspecting it.
Large-scale trials of the ‘Sputnik-V’ vaccine, known as Phase III trials, are ongoing in Russia and involve at least 40,000 people. Initial results are expected in October or November, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), has said.
Pending approval from domestic regulators, such trials may also be conducted in India together with private pharmaceutical firm Dr Reddy’s, and in Brazil’s Bahia State.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy and Polina Ivanova; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
