“I’ve got some good friends who work in a lab, I asked them and they said it’s okay if I take part in this research,” said volunteer Maria Ivanova.

“I know something about swine flu and this vaccine, so I’m not worried.”

The first stages of experimental production are now taking effect.

“After infecting an embryo with the virus, we extract the fluid which is then processed and made into a vaccine,” Irina Voronko, scientist from Microgen company.

Latest numbers estimate that 270,000 people around the world are infected with swine flu and 3,000 have died as a result. Russia now plans a massive regional vaccination program.

But what about those who are too late to inoculate? Well, Russian officials didn’t have to look too far for the answer.

Fifteen years ago scientists in the Urals developed the super bacteriological pill “Triazaverin” that fights all types of influenza.

“Triazaverin is very effective on many different flu strains, various types, including H1N1 and avian flu,” said Oleg Chupakhin from the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“We’ve tested the medicine on volunteers and the tests showed the medicine is safe.”

This treatment is poised for mass production, as is the new vaccine. Officials are confident that the fight against swine flu will be a victorious one.

“We will win,” believes Gennady Onishchenko, Russia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.

“Today we have various advantages that our predecessors didn’t have: we can anticipate the appearance of the new virus, build up a system of measures and minimize the harm. That’s the difference between, for example, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and swine flu now. We will win.”

Provided everything goes well with production and distribution, vaccination of Russians will kick off in November and the products will be sold promptly to neighboring CIS countries.