Armed conflict has continued in southeast Ukraine (the Donbas region) since April 2014, as the Ukrainian government launched a military operation against the two republics (Donetsk and Lugansk) that announced their secession after the coup in Kyiv that led to the overthrow of the government of President Viktor Yanukovych.
Headline: West loses race to develop a coronavirus vaccine
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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.