worldUpdated: Sep 13, 2020 08:19 ISTRussian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev on Saturday said that temporary suspension of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine candidate trials clearly showed the “fallacy of the approach” when countries “exclusively rely on novel and untested platforms” while choosing a vaccine for widespread use. Extolling the benefits of the ‘Sputnik-V’ vaccine, he said that as the vaccine was based on ‘ human adenoviral vectors’, it was proven to be ‘safe and effective’. “We are delighted that AstraZeneca has resumed its trials and continues to move forward. Russia will not follow such an approach as it has demonstrated the safety and efficiency of its human adenoviral vector platform, including its Sputnik V vaccine,” he added. The trials of the third phase of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine have resumed in the UK, days after they were halted over safety concerns.

Source: Hindustan Times September 13, 2020 01:41 UTC