Coronavirus: Russia's elites given early access to experimental vaccine since April

MOSCOW • Scores of Russia's business and political elites have been given early access to an experimental Covid-19 vaccine, according to people familiar with the effort, as the country races to be among the first to develop an inoculation.

Top executives at firms including aluminium giant United Co Rusal, as well as billionaire tycoons and government officials began getting shots developed by the state-run Gamaleya Institute as early as April, the sources said. They asked not to be identified as the information is not public.

The Gamaleya vaccine, financed by the state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and backed by the Defence Ministry, last week completed a Phase I trial involving military personnel. The institute has not published results for the study, which involved about 40 people, but has begun the next stage of testing with a larger group.

Asked if President Vladimir Putin had taken it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "It probably wouldn't be a good idea to use an uncertified vaccine on the head of state." He added that he was not aware of other officials trying it.

Mr Peskov's comments followed a Health Ministry statement that said only participants in Gamaleya's trials were eligible.

While the new shots are "safe" as they are based on proven vaccines for other diseases, their effectiveness has yet to be determined, said Mr Sergei Netesov, a former executive at the state-run virology centre Vector, which is also working on an inoculation. "Those who take it do so at their own risk," he added.

Russia has reported more than 780,000 coronavirus cases, the fourth-largest case tally in the world, and Gamaleya's programme is on a faster track than many developers in the West.

RDIF chief Kirill Dmitriev last week said Phase III trials would start on Aug 3 and include thousands of people in Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with the vaccine distributed nationally as early as September. Western researchers typically run Phase III trials for months to better understand safety and effectiveness.

Gamaleya's candidate is a so-called viral vector vaccine based on human adenovirus - a common cold virus - fused with the spike protein of Sars-CoV-2 to stimulate an immune response. It is similar to a vaccine being developed by China's CanSino Biologics, which is already in Phase II trials.

The programme under which well-connected Russians have been given the chance to volunteer for doses of the experimental vaccine is legal but kept under wraps to avoid a crush of potential participants, according to a researcher familiar with the effort.

He said several hundred people have been involved. Bloomberg confirmed dozens who have had the shots but none would allow their names to be published. It is not clear how participants are selected and they are not part of the official studies, though they are monitored and their results logged.

Patients usually get the shots - two are needed to produce an immune response that Gamaleya says will last for about two years. Participants are not charged a fee and sign statements confirming they know the risks involved.

RDIF's Mr Dmitriev said he and his family had taken the shots and noted that a significant number of other volunteers were also given the opportunity.

The Gamaleya Institute said it had vaccinated its director and the team working on the trial.

In May, state-controlled Sberbank recruited volunteers among employees to take the jabs.

One senior executive who was inoculated said he experienced no side effects, adding that the health risks were worth being able to resume normal life. Other takers reported experiencing fevers and muscle aches after the shots.

Several managers in the Moscow offices of Rusal, which relies on Gamaleya's Ebola vaccine to maintain operations in Guinea, have already taken its Covid-19 shots, people familiar with the matter said.

Gamaleya chief Alexander Ginzbur said he was not aware of any government officials or business leaders taking his institute's vaccine, according to Interfax.

BLOOMBERG