Russia claims it developed Covid vaccine

Putin says his daughter too was vaccinated and is safe

Moscow, Aug. 11: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced that his country has developed the world’s first vaccine against

Covid-19 that works “quite effectively” and forms a “stable immunity” against the deadly disease as he disclosed that one of his daughters has already been vaccinated.

“A vaccine against Coronavirus has been registered for the first time in the world this morning,” Putin said during a meeting with members of his government.

“I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity,” the official Tass news agency quoted Putin as saying.

Putin’s claim has come amidst concerns raised by experts about the speed of Russia’s work, suggesting that researchers might be cutting corners.

Reacting to Putin’s announcement, US health secretary Alex Azar said the goal of developing a Coronavirus vaccine is not to be first, but to have one that is safe and effective. “The point is not to be first with a vaccine — the point is to have a vaccine that is safe and effective for the American people and the people of the world,” Azar said told ABC News.

“We need transparent data, and it’s got to be

Phase-3 data that shows that a vaccine is safe and effective,” Azar, currently on a historic visit to Taiwan, said.

Danny Altmann, Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London, told the Science Media Centre that there were concerns about releasing a vaccine before it was fully tested.

Amid fears that safety could have been compromised, the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged Russia last week to follow international guidelines for producing a vaccine against Covid-19, the BBC reported.

Putin said that one of his daughters had tested a Russian COVID-19 vaccine on herself and that she is feeling well.

“I know this very well, because one of my daughters got vaccinated, so in this sense, she took part in testing,” Putin said.

The vaccine has been named Sputnik-V. The name is a reference to the surprise 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union. The treatment is yet to go through crucial Phase 3 trials where it would be administered to thousands of people. President Putin noted that after the first vaccine shot, his daughter had a 38°C fever, and on the next day, a fever slightly higher than 37°C. “And then, after the second shot, she had a slight fever again, and then everything was fine, she is feeling well and has a high [antibody] count,” he said.

Russian health minister Mikhail Murashko said medical workers and teachers will be the first to get the vaccine.