Russia names Covid-19 vaccine ‘Sputnik V’, after Soviet satellite

Russia has named its new coronavirus vaccine as ‘Sputnik V’, after the Soviet satellite, the head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund said Tuesday. This came on the same day as Russia declared itself as the first nation to develop a vaccine for COVID-19.

On Tuesday, Russian  Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund which finances the vaccine project, hailed it as the historic “Sputnik moment”. Sputnik 1, the world’s first satellite was launched by the former Soviet Union in 1957. 

Although Russia has hailed the development as a mark of its scientific prowess, the vaccine still has to complete final trials, raising concerns over the speed at which approval has been granted. 

Phase III trial of ‘Sputnik V’ will commence from Wednesday, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund which finances the vaccine project, said. Industrial production is set to begin from September, Dmitriev said. 20 countries have pre-ordered for over a billion doses, he added.