Belarus to launch pilot production of COVID-19 vaccine in November

Pilot production of the Belarusian vaccine against COVID-19 is set to start in November, Chief Sanitary Inspector Aleksandr Tarasenko told reporters on 4 November, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Tarasenko said that last year it was announced that a laboratory prototype of the vaccine had been developed. “Today, the work is underway to complete the laboratory on the basis of BelVitunipharm in Vitebsk Oblast. I think an experimental shop will open in November to carry out the transfer and the first pilot production of the vaccine. This does not mean however that the vaccine will become available for people at once,” he said.

First the vaccine should undergo preclinical tests, then clinical trials, including those at Gomel State Medical University.

“We are working hard to develop a vaccine not only against COVID-19, but also against other infections,” the chief sanitary inspector added. This is especially true for the infections against which vaccination is part of the national immunization calendar. “I think this process will be launched in the near future,” the chief sanitary inspector said.

Speaking about the work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Aleksandr Tarasenko said that preventive mechanisms, treatment and diagnosis methods had been fully worked out. “An even more important thing is the tactic of vaccination in order to reduce morbidity, its severity, and the number of days spent by the patient in hospital,” the chief sanitary inspector said.