After Sputnik V, Russia approves second COVID-19 vaccine - EpiVacCorona

Russia now has not one, but two COVID-19 vaccines with regulatory approvals in the pipeline.

According to the country’s register of authorised medicines, after Sputnik V, another vaccine candidate has received regulatory approval.

Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed the news at a government meeting on Wednesday.

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The vaccine in question was developed Siberia’s Vector Institute, and had successfully completed human trials last month.

No results have been made available yet, with Phase III of trials set to begin soon.

"We need to increase production of the first and second vaccine," Putin said during a broadcast on state TV. "We are continuing to cooperate with our foreign partners and will promote our vaccine abroad”, he added.

The new vaccine is named EpiVacCorona, and marks the second one to be licensed in the country. The vaccine has been tested on 100 volunteers aged between 18-60 in Novosibirsk.The vaccine is peptide-based.

In Pics:All you want to know about Russia's coronavirus vaccine 'Sputnik V'

The Sputnik V vaccine, developed by Gamaleya Institute based in Moscow, was approved for use in August.

Similarly, Sputnik V was also registered before its Phase III trials had begun, and was based on an adenovirus vector. Currently, a trial with 40,000 participants is underway in Moscow.

For EpiVacCorona, large-scale human trials are expected to begin by the end of this year - November or December, as reported by TASS.

The Phase III trials of the new vaccine will involve the participation of 30,000 volunteers. Out of these, the first 5,000 will be inducted from Siberia, as reported by Interfax.

People who work in high-risk environments have already been inoculated with the Sputnik V vaccine, the Russian health ministry has claimed.