International concerns over COVID-19 vaccine are ‘baseless’, says Russia

Reacting to growing skepticism over the safety of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, Russia said the international concern over the drug is ‘absolutely groundless.’

“It seems our foreign colleagues are sensing the specific competitive advantages of the Russian drug and are trying to express opinions that… are absolutely groundless,” Russia’s Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told the Interfax news agency on Wednesday, reports BBC.

Murashko said that the drug will be available soon. “The first packages of the medical vaccine… will be received within the next two weeks, primarily for doctors,” Mr. Murashko said, added BBC.

Russia on Tuesday announced that it has developed a COVID-19 vaccine, with President Vladimir Putin saying the drug offers ‘substantial immunity’ against the coronavirus as his daughter has been inoculated with it.  

As per reports, the industrial production of Sputnik V, named after the Soviet satellite, will start in September. Russia has said that around 20 countries have pre-booked a billion doses of the vaccine.

Also Read: ‘The point is to have a vaccine that is safe, not be first’: US on Russia’s Sputnik V

The announcement of COVID-19 vaccine by Russia came after scientists in the West raised concerns about the speed of development of Russian vaccines, suggesting that researchers might be cutting corners after coming under pressure from authorities to deliver.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said that it is too soon to give a stamp of approval. “Pre-qualification of any vaccine includes the rigorous review and assessment of all the required safety and efficacy data,” WHO’s spokesman in Geneva Tarik Jasarevic said.

Germany has also raised concerns over ‘quality and safety of the vaccine‘, stressing that drug approval will be granted in the European Union only after full clinical trials.