Russia announced on Saturday that it has produced the first batch of its coronavirus vaccine after President Vladimir Putin declared it had been first in the world to approve as a corona vaccine by a nation.
Putin’s declaration on Tuesday about the vaccine was faced with caution from scientists and the World Health Organization (WHO) said it still required a rigorous safety review.
“The first batch of the novel coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute has been produced,” the health ministry of Russia stated in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.
Putin announced the vaccine was secure 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.
Western scientists were skeptical, with some warning that moving too fast on a vaccine could be dangerous, but Russia condemned criticism as an attempt to undermine Moscow’s research.
The Russian vaccine is called “Sputnik V” 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 defense ministry.
The head of the institute, Alexander Gintsburg, said to the TASS state news agency on Saturday that volunteers taking part in the final stage testing of the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness would have two inoculations.
Russia has announced that industrial production is expected from September and that it plans to manufacture 5 million doses per month by December or January.
Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko stated this week that the vaccine would first be made available to medics and would later be accessible to all Russians on a voluntary basis.
With more than 917,000 confirmed infections, Russia’s coronavirus caseload is currently fourth in the world after the United States, Brazil and India.
Currently, Russia has 92,000 people hospitalized with the virus and 2,900 in intensive care, according to the health ministry.
