Russian Scientists Claim Promise In First Vaccine Trial

Reuters reports:

Russian scientists hailed the results of their first clinical trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday, saying it had been proved safe and that volunteers had developed an immune response.

Speaking to a crowded room without wearing masks, three of 18 volunteers monitored over a month at the Sechenov University said they all had experienced few side-effects.

A larger-scale trial, intended to ascertain the strength of the immune response produced by the vaccine and how long protection will last, is expected to begin in Russia in mid-August. “We were primarily testing for safety,” Elena Smolyarchuk, a department director at Sechenov University and one of the coordinators of the trial, said.