Prime Minister Mishustin says six COVID-19 vaccines are being developed in Russia

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has indicated that multiple Russian-produced treatments for COVID-19 as well as six possible vaccinations will soon be undergoing testing.

Mishustin told Interfax that scientists worked around the clock to develop the vaccines in the course of only two months. Russia’s federal consumer health agency Rospotrebnadzor, which is playing a central role in combating the coronavirus pandemic, had previously told journalists that vaccine tests had begun in the Vektor state scientific center.

Scientists at the center confirmed at the time that animal testing of the vaccines was underway, presumably as a safety check. Vektor was also the first institution permitted to provide coronavirus diagnostic tests in Russia; private companies have struggled to gain permission to test their own test kits and bring them to market.

Mishustin said he hopes the new Russian treatments and vaccines will be available for active use “in the very near future.”