By Ben Kerrigan-
Russia has become the first country to clear a coronavirus vaccine and declare it ready for use, despite international scepticism. President Vladimir Putin said that one of his daughters has already been inoculated.
Putin stressed that the vaccine has undergone the necessary tests and has proven efficient, offering a lasting immunity from the coronavirus. However, the general consensus in the scientific community is that the vaccine needs to undergo Phase 3 trials.
Speaking at a government meeting Tuesday, Putin said that the vaccine has undergone proper testing and is safe.
“I know it has proven efficient and forms a stable immunity, and I would like to repeat that it has passed all the necessary tests,” he said. “We must be grateful to those who made that first step very important for our country and the entire world.”
The Russian president said one of his two adult daughters has received two shots of the vaccine. “She has taken part in the experiment.”
Putin said that his daughter had a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) on the day of the first vaccine injection, and then it dropped to just over 37 degrees (98.6 Fahrenheit) on the following day. After the second shot she again had a slight increase in temperature, but then it was all over.
The vaccine, developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute, has been named Sputnik-V, in reference to the surprise 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union. It has yet to go through crucial Phase 3 trials where it would be administered to thousands of people.
The true safety of the vaccine has been questioned by sceptics who have reason to question the validity of the claim because of the country’s history in political scandals. Russia is believed to be desperate to establish a formidable level of global might, its motives are always thoroughly examined. However, this is a bold claim.
Critics say the country’s push for a vaccine is partly due to political pressure from the Kremlin, which is keen to portray Russia as a global scientific force.
The 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.
The proposed vaccine uses adapted strains of the adenovirus, a virus that usually causes the common cold, but concrete evidence about its efficiency. Testing was conducted on soldiers and medical students, with regulatory approval arriving several months ahead of the scheduled completion of clinical trials.