Moscow, July 29: Russia is aiming to become the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine in less than two weeks. Russia’s intend raised safety and efficacy concerns. Russia is likely to make an announcement by August 10 or may earlier. The vaccine has been created by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute.

According to a report published in CNN, frontline healthcare workers of Russia will get this vaccine first. Russia's sovereign wealth fund is financing Russian vaccine research. Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund compared the development of the vaccine to the successful 1957 launch of the world's first satellite by the Soviet Union. COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Moderna's Coronavirus Vaccine Shows Great Result in Monkeys.

“Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik's beeping. It's the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first,” reported CNN quoting Dmitriev as saying. However, no scientific data is released by Russia regarding testing of its vaccine. There are reports that still human testing of the vaccine is incomplete.

According to Russian scientists, the vaccine is developed quickly as it is a modified version of one already created to fight against other diseases. Earlier, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko had said that the vaccine would be used in parallel to phase 3 of the testing. He added that people prone to infection such as older people will be prioritised for the vaccine. Russia is currently the fourth worst-hit country by coronavirus in the world.

On Monday, the United States-based Moderna announced the commencement of Phase 3 testing of coronavirus vaccine. According to the CNN report, Moderna has built its COVID-19 vaccine on the backbone of a vaccine it had been developing for a virus, MERS, which is reportedly related to coronavirus.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 29, 2020 01:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).