Russia on Saturday announced it has produced the first batch of its coronavirus vaccine, just days after President Vladimir Putin stated it had been first in the world to approve a vaccine. The health ministry said in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies, “The first batch of the novel coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute has been produced.”
Russia has named the covid-19 vaccine “Sputnik V”, it is named after the Soviet-era satellite that was the first launched into space in 1957.
On Tuesday, Putin stated that, Russia has approved a vaccine against covid-19 even though clinical trials were not even complete. He said that, the vaccine was safe and one of his daughters had been inoculated.
Russia’s move to give approval to a vaccine that haven’t even been to the final stage trials has drawn a sceptical response from many scientists.
