After Brazil was the first emerging market to get a test drive of the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine last month, it’s Russia that is the first to complete early phase human trials of a potential new vaccine to stop Covid-19.

Elena Smolyarchuk, chief researcher for the Russian Center for Clinical Research on Medications at Sechenov University, told TASS newswire on Sunday that human early trials for the vaccine had been completed and those test patients will be discharged soon.

"The research has been completed and it proved that the vaccine is safe. The volunteers will be discharged on July 15 and July 20," Smolyarchuk was quoted as saying in the report.

There was no other information on when this vaccine would enter commercial production. The testing sample was small, just around 20 people. It is unclear if this is ongoing, but given that most clinical trials of humans and vaccines require hundreds if not thousands of test patients, this is still in its infancy.

Russia had allowed clinical trials of two forms of a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology. The first one was carried out at the Burdenko Military Hospital. The other vaccine was given to test patients at the Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University.

After being given the shot, the volunteers were asked to quarantine in the hospital for 28 days.

Earlier, results of the Covid-19 vaccine tests performed on a group of volunteers in Russia showed that they were developing immunity to the coronavirus, but what the drug actually is was not discussed in the article.

Russia has reported 719,449 cases of the new SARS coronavirus. Some 11,188 people have died from complications caused by Covid-19, the disease caused by the new SARS.

There are at least 21 vaccines currently under trial worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Every country and every lab is taking a different approach to finding the right solution to stop the virus from taking over the world at this point.

Meanwhile, in Moscow this weekend, public health officials lifted the requirements of wearing face masks while outside. Masks and gloves are mandatory when riding public transportation, going to a medical center, or while shopping.