Headline: West loses race to develop a coronavirus vaccine // Russia’s vaccine against COVID-19 is ready – the results of clinical trials showed the development of an immune response in all the volunteers involved. Though, the research centre at the Sechenov University clarified that a next phase of trials is still ahead to test the efficiency. (…) The West fears that Russia has once again managed to make what was considered impossible: to join the group of countries leading in the development of a vaccine against coronavirus.
The claim advances recurring pro-Kremlin narratives concerning the coronavirus pandemic and Russian superiority. There is no evidence at the moment about an existing vaccine, which would have passed large-scale efficacy trials. WHO is coordinating efforts to develop vaccines and medicines to prevent and treat COVID-19. At the moment, more than 140 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine. The actual WHO list of the COVID-19 candidate vaccines can be found here. Most recently, scientists at the University of Oxford said their experimental COVID-19 vaccine was able to produce a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55. See further debunking of the same claim here. The Global Coronavirus Response pledging campaign raised €9.8 billion by the end of May 2020. In June, the European Commission has presented a European strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing and deployment of vaccines against COVID-19.