The first batch of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine will be released in two weeks, Sputnik News reported, citing Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko.
The Russian minister said that vaccination against coronavirus will be voluntary for everybody, including healthcare workers.
Russia on Tuesday became become the first country to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been named “Sputnik V” in homage to the world’s first satellite launched by the Soviet Union.
But Russia’s decision to grant approval to the Covid-19 vaccine even before final trial has raised concerns among some experts.
Russia is developing a special tracing app that will allow Russian citizens to confirm the state of their health. The app will also monitor possible adverse effects of the drug for those who took the vaccine.
Russia President Vladimir Putin and other officials have said it is completely safe. The president said one of his daughters had taken it as a volunteer and felt good afterwards. “I know that it works quite effectively, forms strong immunity, and I repeat, it has passed all the necessary checks,” Putin told a government meeting.
Here are some updates on Russia’s COVID vaccine Sputnik V:
* Russian business conglomerate Sistema has already started mass production of the vaccine at AFK Sistema’s Binnopharm pharmaceutical factory, Sputnik News reported, citing Russian authorities.
* Russian official say that the covid vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, will be administered 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.
* The vaccine is administered in two doses and consists of two serotypes of a human adenovirus, each carrying an S-antigen of the new coronavirus, which enter human cells and produce an immune response.
* Russia has said it already received foreign requests for 1 billion doses.
* Clinical trials of the Russian vaccine is expected to start soon in the UAE and the Philippines.
* Some international experts have also questioned the speed at which Russia approved its vaccine.
* More than 100 possible COVID-19 vaccines are being developed around the world. At least four are in final Phase III human trials, according to WHO data.
(Source: Livemint)