Russia rolls out first COVID-19 vaccine
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Russia said on 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.
鈥淭he first batch of the novel coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute has been produced,鈥 the health ministry said in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.
Putin said the vaccine was safe and 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 this week.
The Russian vaccine is called 鈥淪putnik V鈥 after the Soviet-era satellite that was the first launched into space in 1957.
It was developed by the Gamaleya research institute for epidemiology and microbiology in Moscow in coordination with the Russian defence ministry.
The head of the institute, Alexander Gintsburg, said on Saturday that volunteers taking part in the final stage testing of the vaccine鈥檚 safety and efficacy would have two inoculations.
Russia has said 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 said the vaccine would first be available to medics and would later be available to all Russians on a voluntary basis.
Russia will offer the vaccine to other countries once its own citizens are vaccinated, Murashko said on Wednesday, adding that doubts over the effectiveness of the vaccine are unfounded.
Western scientists were sceptical, with some warning that moving too quickly on a vaccine could be dangerous.
With more than 917,000 confirmed infections, Russia鈥檚 coronavirus caseload is fourth in the world after the United States, Brazil and India.
The country has 92,000 people hospitalized with the virus and 2,900 in intensive care.
The pandemic has killed at least 766,228 people worldwide since it emerged last year, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP yesterday. More than 21 million cases have been registered.
The United States has recorded the most deaths with 169,489, followed by Brazil with 107,232, Mexico with 56,543, India with 49,980 and Britain with 41,361.
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