Russia has developed the primary vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against the coronavirus, President Putin announced Tuesday. Moscow has dubbed its new coronavirus vaccine “Sputnik V” after the Soviet satellite, the top of the country’s sovereign wealth fund said.
“This morning, for the primary time within the world, a vaccine against the new coronavirus was registered” in Russia, Putin said during a televised video call with government ministers.
“One of my daughters had this vaccine. i feel during this sense she took part within the experiment,” Putin said.
Russia has been pushing hard to quickly develop a coronavirus vaccine and said earlier this month it hoped to launch production within weeks and switch out “several million” doses per month by next year.
The World Health Organization last week urged Russia to follow established guidelines and go “through all the stages” necessary to develop a secure vaccine.
The pandemic has seen an unprecedented mobilization of funding and research to rush through a vaccine which will protect billions of individuals worldwide.