What a gift: Russia offers UN staff free virus vaccines

MOSCOW — What do you do when Vladimir Putin offers you Russia’s new coronavirus vaccine, for free?

United Nations staff in New York and around the world are now facing that choice, after the Russian president offered Tuesday to provide them the Sputnik-V vaccine in a speech to this year’s General Assembly marking the body’s 75th birthday.

Only results from small early studies on the Russian vaccine have been published, raising concerns among some scientists that it isn’t ready yet for widespread use — and prompting worldwide memes about potential bizarre side effects.

“Any one of us could face this dangerous virus. The virus has not spared the staff of the United Nations, its headquarters and regional entities,” Putin said in a prerecorded speech from Moscow.

The coronavirus pandemic means this year’s General Assembly is a work-from-home production, for the first time in its history.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, “We thank President Putin for his generous offer which will be studied by our medical services.”

In a report published in the journal Lancet, developers of the Russian vaccine said it appeared to be safe and to prompt an antibody response in all 40 people tested in the second phase of the study within three weeks. However, the authors noted that participants were only followed for 42 days, the study sample was small and there was no placebo or control vaccine used.