Russia on Saturday announced that it has produced the first batch of its COVID-19 vaccine. Earlier last week, President Vladimir Putin made the announcement that Russia is first the country to approve a vaccine for the deadly coronavirus infection.
“The first batch of the novel coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute has been produced,” Russian agencies quoted the health ministry as saying. However, clinical trials are yet to be completed for the vaccine.
The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Russia has been named ‘Sputnik V’ after the Soviet-era satellite.
Putin, during the press conference to announce the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, assured that it had passed the required checks, adding that one of his daughters was administered the vaccine.
Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that the first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine would be made available to doctors and health workers, and then to citizens on a voluntary basis.
Many have expressed concerns over the vaccine as it has not undergone all required phases of clinical trials. Phase three clinical trials involves widespread testing of the vaccine in humans.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged Russia to follow international guidelines for producing a vaccine, and has been in talks with authorities to review the same.
In addition, Russia’s rush to start inoculations could result in huge pressure on other governments to skip regulations and important steps in developing a risk-free and effective vaccine.
In other parts of the world, several vaccines are in early development, but experts have said that any vaccine is unlikely to become widely available until mid-2021.