Russia becomes first country to approve a COVID-19 Vaccine

[Syd Silver]

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move hailed by Moscow as evidence of its scientific prowess.

The vaccine still has to complete final trials, raising concerns among some experts at the speed of its approval, but the Russian business conglomerate Sistema has said it expects to put it into mass production by the end of the year.

Russian health workers treating COVID-19 patients will be offered the chance of volunteering to be vaccinated in the coming weeks, a source told Reuters last month.

Regulatory approval paves the way for the mass inoculation of the Russian population and authorities hope it will allow the economy, which has been battered by fallout from the virus, to return to full capacity.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, hailed the development as a historic “Sputnik moment”, comparable to the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of Sputnik 1, the world’s first satellite.
The vaccine will be marketed under the name ‘Sputnik V’ on foreign markets, he said.

Dmitriev said Russia had already received foreign requests for 1 billion doses. International agreements had been secured to produce 500 million doses annually, with the vaccine also expected to be produced in Brazil.

He said clinical trials were expected to start soon in the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines.

But only about 10% of clinical trial are successful, and the speed at which Russia has moved, approving a vaccine before the final stages of trials to test safety and efficacy are over, has worried some scientists, who fear Moscow may be putting national prestige before safety.

Speaking at a government meeting on state television, Putin dismissed those concerns, saying the vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, was safe and that it had even been administered to one of his daughters.

“I know that it works quite effectively, forms strong immunity, and I repeat, it has passed all the needed checks,” said Putin.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-russia-vaccine-put/russia-becomes-first-country-to-approve-a-covid-19-vaccine-says-putin-idUSKCN25712U

 

[Syd Silver]

Germany says Russian COVID-19 vaccine has not been sufficiently tested

- German Health Minister Jens Spahn on Wednesday said Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine had not been sufficiently tested, adding the aim was to have a safe product rather than just being first to start vaccinating people.

President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing.

Moscow’s decision to grant approval before final trials have been completed has raised concerns among some experts.

“It can be dangerous to start vaccinating millions, if not billions, of people too early because it could pretty much kill the acceptance of vaccination if it goes wrong, so I’m very sceptical about what’s going on in Russia,” Spahn told radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

“I would be pleased if we had an initial, good vaccine but based on everything we know - and that’s the fundamental problem, namely that the Russians aren’t telling us much - this has not been sufficiently tested,” he added.

Spahn said it was crucial, even during a pandemic, to carry out proper studies and tests and make the results public to give people confidence in the vaccine.

“It’s not about being first somehow - it’s about having an effective, tested and therefore safe vaccine,” he said when asked about Russia’s vaccine, which will be called “Sputnik V” in homage to the world’s first satellite launched by the Soviet Union.

Only about 10% of clinical trials are successful and some scientists fear Moscow may be putting national prestige before safety.

Putin and other officials have said it is completely safe. Government officials have said it will be administered to medical personnel, and then to teachers, on a voluntary basis at the end of this month or in early September. Mass roll-out in Russia is expected to start in October.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-russia-germany-idUSKCN2580K3

 

[Anna]

Itself from Russia. How awful it is, what is happening here, you can’t even imagine ... The worst thing is that people are still sleeping and do not understand what is happening.