Russia develops combined vaccines against COVID and influenza and against coronavirus and measles

Russia is working on two combination vaccines that will protect against COVID-19 and, at the same time, against influenza, and against coronavirus and measles, the director general of the Véktor State Research Centre for Virology and Biotechnology, Rinat Maksiutov, said on Saturday.

In an interview with the Rossia-1 channel he said that the prototype of the combined flu and coronavirus vaccine has been shown to be effective in laboratory animals. "This prototype vaccine has already been tested in laboratory animals, has demonstrated its ability to generate an immune response and it is being decided to move to widespread pre-clinical studies," he explained.

The Véktor centre has developed the COVID-19 'EpiVacCorona' vaccine, which was registered in Russia last October, the second vaccine after Sputnik V.

The Siberian institution is also developing a combination vaccine that protects against both coronavirus and measles, Maksiutov said.

"The first studies carried out on laboratory animals (with a recombinant measles virus vaccine) have shown that a single inoculation ensures the formation of a strong immune response," he said.