Sputnik V: Why Putin's vaccine could boomerang
Russia announced its own vaccine on Tuesday through Putin, with the Russian president stating that one of his daughters had also been vaccinated. Sputnik V, as it was named, is the first coronavirus vaccine to be widely available.
Its name, of course, refers to the first artificial satellite launched into orbit by the Soviet Union in 1957, while V means "Vaccine".
Both Russia and China eagerly wanted to be the first to launch the vaccine on the market, with the Russian president announcing that the "road race" for the vaccine was like a space battle against the United States during the Cold War.
Nevertheless, the West is skeptical and concerned about Putin's statements.
In particular, experts believe that the two months that have preceded human trials are a very short period of time, which could make the vaccine dangerous to health.
Putin himself said his daughter had the vaccine, addressing his audience.
Putin's remarks were topped by those of Kirill Dmitriev, chairman of the state-owned RDIF, which was involved in the development.
Dmitriev characteristically said that Russia has already received orders from 20 countries, and one billion installments will be prepared. However, he clarified that the third phase of testing will start today, Wednesday, while mass production will start next month.
The third phase of the vaccine will include testing on thousands of volunteers and normally lasts longer than 20 days. At the same time, the WHO needs pre-approval, with the World Health Organization still in talks with the Russian side.
"We are in close contact with the Russian health authorities and talks are under way on possible vaccine pre-approval, but again the pre-approval of any vaccine includes a rigorous examination and evaluation of all safety and efficacy data," said WHO spokesman Tariq Yass. .
According to the Guardian, vaccinations will be started by medical staff, teachers and vulnerable groups.
According to Putin, the vaccinations will be in the first phase, voluntary. Speaking to the Guardian, a professor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he did not trust the government over its statements. On the other hand, members of prominent families in the country have already been vaccinated with the experimental vaccine, as revealed by Bloomberg.
Human experiments on Sputnik V began on June 17 in 76 volunteers, most of them military, raising questions about the validity of the whole operation.
According to the Guardian, there is a clear concern that an ineffective vaccine would weaken the protection measures for the pandemic, causing catastrophic consequences. Also, a failure of this vaccine would sharpen the arguments of anti-vaccinators who have been circulating new conspiracy theories lately.
In all, about 150 separate trials for coronavirus vaccine have been conducted worldwide, of which 15 are in phase II and three are in phase III.
The United States is also in the "rally," with Fauci telling Reuters that tens of millions of doses are expected to be available in early 2021, and that by the end of the year there could be more than a billion.
And Trump wants the vaccine ready before the Nov. 3 presidential election. Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer have announced that they expect to produce more than 1 billion doses each next year.
Most vaccines are in the testing phase as two doses are given one month apart, providing complete protection only after the second dose has been given.
German doubts
On Tuesday, the German Ministry of Health expressed doubts about the quality of the "Putin" vaccine.
"There are no known data on the quality, efficacy and safety of the Russian vaccine," a ministry spokeswoman told the RND media group.
"It must be proven that the reason for the use of the vaccine in terms of risks, before it is released to the general public," added the German ministry spokeswoman, adding that Berlin had no contact with Moscow on the matter. "The approval of a vaccine in Europe presupposes, in addition to proof of its medicinal value, that there is sufficient information from clinical trials to prove the efficacy and safety of the drug," the spokeswoman said, according to AMPE.
Source: Offsite