Russia approves Covid vaccine ‘Sputnik V’, world watches with worry

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Russia approves Covid vaccine ‘Sputnik V’, world watches with worry

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Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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Key points –   

1. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia had become the first country to grant regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing. But the scientific community is not celebrating just yet.

Highlights – 

1. As the global coronavirus tally crossed 20 million on August 11, reports came from Russia of a new Covid-19 vaccine approved by the Vladimir Putin government.
2. With this, Russia became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine for use among tens of thousands of its citizens.
3. While the news of a vaccine finally being discovered for the pandemic seems like good news, but the speed at which Russia has moved has worried some scientists who fear Moscow may be putting national prestige before safety.

Important details –

1. Russia has named its Covid-19 vaccine 'Sputnik V' for foreign markets, a reference to the world's first satellite and what Moscow sees as its success at becoming the first country to approve a vaccine.
2. Putin said that one of his two adult daughters had already been inoculated with the cleared vaccine, which he described as effective.
3. The vaccine is being developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute in coordination with Moscow's defence ministry.
4. The vaccine still has to complete final trials, raising concerns among some experts at the speed of its approval, but the Russian business conglomerate Sistema has said it expects to put it into mass production by the end of the year.
5. According to officials, large-scale production of the vaccine will start in September, and mass vaccination may begin as early as October.
6. However, the vaccine's approval by Russia's health ministry comes before the start of a larger trial involving thousands of participants, commonly known as a Phase III trial.
7. Usually, regulatory approvals for public use of a vaccine are granted only after successful completion of Phase III trials.
8. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Russian health authorities are discussing the process for possible WHO prequalification for its newly approved Covid-19 vaccine.
9. WHO had earlier said all vaccine candidates should go through full stages of testing before being rolled out.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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