Sputnik V: What are the phases of trial for a vaccine?

Russia on Tuesday announced that it has developed the world’s first vaccine for coronavirus, ‘Sputnik V’. As the Eurasian nation rejoiced over its scientific feat, others took it with a pinch of salt.

Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya research institute in coordination with the country’s defence ministry.  

Skepticism over it chiefly revolves around the rapid pace at which regulatory approval was granted, even as the vaccine enters Phase III trials on Wednesday.

According to USA’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are three phases of trials conducted to ascertain the efficacy and safety of a vaccine:

Phase I:

A small group of healthy individuals receive the trial vaccine. It is to ascertain if the vaccine lead to any side effects

Phase II:

The clinical trial is then expanded. Phase II trials include more number of participants. Their characteristics (age, health, etc) are similar to those for whom the vaccine is intended. 

Phase III:

In this phase, vaccine doses are administered to thousands of participants to determine its efficacy and safety.

Sputnik V will enter the Phase III clinical trial on Wednesday and the industrial production is expected to begin in September. Meanwhile, Russia said that 20 countries have pre-ordered for over a billion doses, he added.