The best specialists from the Healthcare Ministry system are involved in the development of a Belarusian vaccine against COVID-19, BelTA learned from Vladimir Gorbunov, Director of the National Applied Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology.
The official said: “A special order of the head of state has been prepared for the sake of creating the Belarusian vaccine. The Healthcare Ministry pays close attention to this work. Leading specialists of the ministry's system are involved, primarily employees of the National Applied Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, the Belarusian State Medical University, the Gomel Medical University, and a number of other organizations. Institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus are taking part in the work, primarily the Biophysics and Cell Engineering Institute, which will take care of individual stages of the development of the Belarusian vaccine.”
In his words, the Belarusian vaccine is more than a vaccine. “We are talking about the biosecurity of our country. We will gain technologies and competences for the development, creation, and production of immunobiological medications,” the official said.
Yet Vladimir Gorbunov reminded that vaccines were already made in Belarus in the 1960s. “We hope that as a result of the global project the Healthcare Ministry has undertaken we will revive the technologies and competences, which will make us better prepared to face biological threats in the future,” he concluded.
