COVID-19:First Batch Of Russia's Vaccines Now Available And Ready For Use
Russia declared Saturday that it has produced the first batch of its coronavirus vaccine, after President Vladimir Putin announced it had been first in the world to approve a vaccine.
Putin’s announcement on Tuesday about the vaccine was received with caution from scientists and the World Health Organization who stated it still needed a rigorous safety review.
“The first batch of the novel coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute has been produced,” the health ministry disclosed in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.
Putin assured of the safety of the vaccine and indicated that one of his own daughters had been inoculated, though clinical trials were not yet complete and final stage testing involving more than 2,000 people only started that week.
Western scientists were skeptical, and warned that moving too quickly on a vaccine could be dangerous, but Russia rebuked criticism as an attempt to undermine Moscow’s research.
The Russian vaccine is named “Sputnik V” after the Soviet-era satellite that was the first to be launched into space in 1957.
It was developed by the Gamaleya research institute for epidemiology and microbiology in Moscow with the assistance of the Russian defence ministry.
The head of the institute, Alexander Gintsburg, told the TASS, state news agency on Saturday that volunteers partaking in the final stage of the testing of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy would receive two inoculations.
Russia has indicated that industrial production is expected from September and that it plans to manufacture 5 million doses per month by December or January.
Health Minister Mikhail Murashko stated this week that the vaccine which would first be made available to medics and would later be administered to all Russians on a voluntary basis.
With more than 917,000 confirmed cases, , Russia’s coronavirus caseload is currently ranking fourth in the world after the United States, Brazil and India.
Russia has 92,000 people hospitalised with the virus among which 2,900 are in intensive care, according to the health ministry.
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