Russia begins production of coronavirus vaccine, to be rolled out by August end: Report

Russia has
started production for the world’s first coronavirus vaccine, Reuters reported on
Saturday quoting news agency Interfax. The vaccine,
which is being developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute in coordination with
the country’s defence ministry, will be in circulation by the end of the month.

President
Vladimir Putin had announced the development of the vaccine, Sputnik V, on
Tuesday, claiming it offers “sustainable immunity” against the coronavirus. He
also said that his daughter had been inoculated with the new vaccine.  

However, there
remains much skepticism surrounding the vaccine around the world, with western
scientists have raised concerns about the speed of development of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the World
Health Organisation has assured it would not give its approval for the vaccine
without a thorough safety review.

The United Nations health agency’s spokesman
Tarik Jasarevic said that pre-qualification of any vaccine requires rigorous
review and assessment of all the safety and efficacy data.

Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund that helped develop the vaccine, had earlier confirmed that over 20 nations have already pre-ordered a billion doses of the vaccine.

He also dismissed the skepticisms, saying they were a part of “coordinated and carefully orchestrated media attacks” designed to “discredit” the country.