The Mayor of Russia’s capital Moscow has invited people to participate in the trials for the Covid-19 vaccine that the country had approved earlier this month, Associated Press reported.

The Mayor sees this as Russia’s victory which is on par with the Soviet Union’s successful launch of the first satellite of the world in 1957.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that after the registration, the research process will begin which will last for half a year. The research will be carried out on 40,000 participants.

Sobyanin assured that the vaccine is proven safe and is based on the earlier research conducted on the coronavirus.

“We all were eager to see the creation of a vaccine, and now we have it. Now, Moscow residents have a unique chance to become the main participants in clinical research that will help defeat the coronavirus,” the mayor said to media as quoted in the Associated Press report.

This comes as the World Health Organization has begun talks with Russia in order to examine its vaccine.

WHO raised concerns over the vaccine made by Russia which is the first in the world to secure a licence.

However, the Russian authorities have breached the protocol that necessitates trials of the vaccine in tens of thousands of people to prove it is safe and effective, as per media reports.