Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that the country’s COVID-19 vaccine has been registered and approved by the health ministry. Calling it the “world’s first” vaccine, Putin claims the vaccine is safe for use. The news comes after the vaccine barely completed two months of human testing.
On Tuesday, President Putin appeared in a video conference claiming, “for the first time in the world, a vaccine against the new coronavirus was registered”. Putin said that the vaccine that has “passed all the needed checks” will be called “Sputnik V” as per reports on Reuters. Putin also revealed that one of his daughters has also been given the COVID-19 vaccine. The Russian vaccine has been developed by Moscow-based Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. Initial testing found that the vaccine was successful in offering immunity against the coronavirus. However, the vaccine has reportedly not completed the Phase III of trials which means that it has been tested on less than 100 people. That being said, larger trials involving thousands of participants are yet to take place.
The head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev praised vaccine efforts comparing its development to the historic “Sputnik moment” referring to the 1957 launch of Sputnik 1. He revealed that Russia has received requests for 1 billion doses already and agreements for the production of 500 million doses annually are in place in international markets. Production of the vaccine is also expected to take place in Brazil. He added that clinical trials will begin in the UAE and the Philippines as well (via Reuters).
So far, the vaccine’s success rate in clinical trials is 10%. ‘Sputnik V’s approval and registration have been conditional with continual trials while the vaccine goes into production. According to authorities, health care workers will be among the first to get vaccinated.
Russia’s vaccine development is one among many vaccine efforts across the world.
Source: Mashable India
