Deputy Director for Research at the Research Institute of Medical Primatology, Gina Karal-oglu, monkeys are, by default, a human laboratory double. Thus, the results obtained on primates can be extrapolated to humans without special correction.
The Institute of Medical Primatology noted that the monkeys underwent a serious selection for testing the vaccine. In experiments, only the animals born in the nursery in the second and next generations can be selected. Males should be three to four years old. Before sending them to Novosibirsk, rhesus macaques were kept in quarantine for 21 days.
The coronavirus vaccine was previously tested in mice and ferrets. Now the drug is administered to the Sochi monkeys. According to representatives of the Ministry of Health, the experiment is successful. Human trials of the Russian coronavirus vaccine are due in June this year.