MOSCOW, February 26 (RIA Novosti) - Bird flu vaccine will undergo sterility tests in mid-March, and then doctors will decide on human tests, Russia's chief doctor said Sunday, adding that the vaccine would not be the ultimate effective prevention in case of pandemic.
"The vaccine has undergone immunizing power tests, and sterility tests have been launched to last until mid-March," Gennady Onishchenko said. "Then we will try it on a limited number of volunteers."
According to Onishchenko, the results of the tests will show whether restricted vaccine production could be started. "We will test it in field conditions where people have to contact birds directly," he said.
However, Onishchenko warned against excessive optimism, saying that the vaccine developed by Russian scientists on the basis of the virus strain identified in China would not be the ultimate solution to the problem.
"We do not exaggerate the importance of this development, as it has no particular practical significance for healthcare today," he said, adding that the vaccine only sought to raise readiness of Russian producers to vaccine development on the basis of the H5 influenza strains.
"This vaccine will not be the ultimate specific one needed to deal with a possible pandemic," Onishchenko said.
Earlier reports said the vaccine was to be tested on humans before late April.
