MOSCOW – According to a Bloomberg insider report, several anonymous Russian elites revealed information regarding a Covid-19 vaccine developed by state-run “Gamaleya Institute” in Moscow.
The Gamaleya vaccine completed phase 1 trials involving military trials last week. However, in the nation’s efforts to be among the first to develop an effective Covid-19 vaccine, Russian tycoons, top executives at companies and government officials began getting experimental inoculations as early as April.
Bloomberg reports, “While the new shots are “safe” because they’re based on proven vaccines for other diseases, their effectiveness has yet to be determined, according to Sergei Netesov, a former executive at Vector, a state-run virology center in Novosibirsk, Siberia, that’s also working on an inoculation.”
“Those who take it do so at their own risk,” Netesov said.
Shrouded in secrecy, there is little known about Gamaleya’s vaccine candidate except that it “is a so-called viral vector vaccine based on human adenovirus — a common cold virus — fused with the spike protein of SARS CoV-2 to stimulate an immune response. It is similar to a vaccine being developed by China’s CanSino Biologics, which is already in phase 2 trials with plans for more in Canada.” (Bloomberg)
It is unclear how participants were selected, but they aren’t part of the official studies reported to the public, though they are monitored and their results recorded and logged by the institute. Patients are reported to be required to receive 2 shots to produce an immune response. Gamaleya claims that it will last for about two years.
Among the many anonymous volunteers, The Gamaleya Institute said it vaccinated its director, as well as the team working on the trial, when it started.
