Fact check: Has Russia actually found coronavirus vaccine

New Delhi, July 14: The world today is desperate for a vaccine with over 13 million cases and 5,70,000 deaths and the numbers keep surging to the worst.

As WHO says, there will be no change of the infection in the foreseeable future, a University of Russia claims it has found the vaccine.

Sechenov University in the country claims it has successfully completed clinical trials of what it describes as the world's first coronavirus vaccine but in all likelihood, that vaccine has only cleared phase-1 of human trials.

It should be called a potential vaccine, which is still in trials and needs scientific calls.

WHO said the vaccine was still in Phase-1 trials, that means it must undergo 3-4 more trials to be declared safe.

The Russian university claims all human trials of the vaccine have been completed, but, only 40 volunteers were involved in the clinical trial. While according to WHO, Phase-2 requires at least 100 volunteers and thousands across regions and countries in Phase-3.

This means that the Russian vaccine has only completed Phase-1 of the human trials.

According to researches, a coronavirus vaccine may take upto 10 years to be developed completely.

The recent vaccines for malaria, ebola, and dengue took at least four years to be developed.

While inventing a vaccine scientists go through 6 phases of clinical trials.

Phase 0

In phase 0 of a clinical trial, investigators do tests with less number of people, usually fewer than 15. Investigators use a very small dose of medication to make sure the vaccine will not be harmful to humans.

Phase I

Phase I aims to figure out the highest dose humans can take without serious side effects. Investigators spend several months looking at the effects of the medication.

Phase II

Phase II involves more participants, but still not large enough to demonstrate the overall safety of a medication. They are usually given the same dose that was found to be safe in the previous phase.

Phase III

Phase III usually involves up to 3,000 participants.