The research institute of Rospotrebnadzor (Russian Federal State Agency for Health and Consumer Rights) will complete the development of a mild children’s vaccine against whooping cough in 2026, the institute’s director Vadim Govorun said on Tuesday.
“We plan to complete the development next year, as we are finishing the assessment of immunogenicity,” Govorun was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency. He noted that it would be a new generation vaccine with a hybrid molecule containing several antigenic structures.
Russia’s national vaccination calendar includes immunization against whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus with the first shot at 3 months, the second at 4.5 months, and the third at 6 months. The existing combined vaccine requires a booster shot between the ages of 7 and 14.
As Russian Academy of Sciences academician Sergey Netesov said earlier, the rise in whooping cough and measles cases in Russia may be linked to low herd immunity and an increasing number of vaccine opponents, factors that could potentially lead to an epidemic.