Russia to release covid vaccine trial data by Monday

According to the report, Russia will soon release data on pre-clinical and clinical studies of the new coronavirus vaccine that was approved earlier this week. ‘Data on pre clinical and clinical studies will be published in the coming days, possibly by Monday,’ said Russian health minister Mikhail Murashko, as reported by TASS news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country to give regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing.

The vaccine, which will be called ‘Sputnik V’ in homage to the world’s first satellite launched by the Soviet Union during the cold war era, has stirred controversy as it has not yet completed its final trials.

Denying the allegations, the health minister said the criticism was mostly due to the fact that ‘the more data had to be obtained on research,’ saying that not everyone knows that ‘the vaccine is based on a platform, on which six products have already been made.’

Russian authorities say that the first batch of its Covid-19 vaccine would be ready for doctors within two weeks.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has decided to buy a Russian COVID-19 vaccine, state television reported today .
The Russian business conglomerate Sistema has said it expects to put the vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, into mass production by the end of the year.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, said Russia had already received foreign requests for 1 billion doses, a Live Mint report said.