The CoviVac shot is given in two doses, 14 days apart. It is transported and stored at normal refrigerated temperatures, of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (35.6 to 46.4 Fahrenheit).[1]
As an inactivated vaccine, CoviVac uses a more traditional technology that is similar to the inactivated polio vaccine. Initially, a sample of SARS-CoV-2 strain AYDAR-1 was isolated by the Chumakov Center at the Russian Academy of Sciences and used to grow large quantities of the virus using vero cells. From then on, the viruses are soaked in beta-propiolactone, which deactivates them by binding to their genes, while leaving other viral particles intact. The resulting inactivated viruses are then mixed with an aluminium-based adjuvant.[5]
History
Clinical trials
On September 21, 2020, phase I/II trials started and was expected to last through October 15, 2020.[6][7]
In early 2021, phase III trials started and is expected to end on 30 December 2022.[8]
^Kozlovskaya L, Pinyaeva A, Kovpak A, Gordeichuk I, Volok V, Ignatiev G (1 April 2021). "«КОВИВАК»: инактивированный, но активный" ["COVIVAC": inactivated but active]. indicator.ru (Interview) (in Russian). Interviewed by Vodovozov A. Retrieved 19 May 2021.