Russia says it has produced first batch of coronavirus vaccine

MOSCOW • Russia has said it has produced the first batch of its coronavirus vaccine, after President Vladimir Putin announced it had been the first in the world to approve one.

The vaccine will be rolled out by the end of this month, with doctors among those set to be administered it on a voluntary basis.

But a survey shows a majority of Russian doctors would not feel comfortable being injected with the Covid-19 vaccine due to the lack of sufficient data about it and its super-fast approval.

"The first batch of the coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute has been produced," the Health Ministry said in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies yesterday.

Mr Putin said the vaccine is safe and that one of his daughters had been inoculated, though clinical trials were not yet complete and final stage testing involving over 2,000 people started only last week.

The World Health Organisation has said that the vaccine, called "Sputnik V" in homage to the world's first satellite launched by the Soviet Union, still needed a rigorous safety review.

Some scientists said they feared Moscow may be putting national prestige before safety.

A poll of 3,040 doctors and health specialists, done by the "Doctor's Handbook" mobile app and quoted on Friday by Russian newspaper RBC daily, showed 52 per cent were not ready to be vaccinated, with 24.5 per cent saying they would agree to be given the vaccine.

Just a fifth of survey respondents said they would recommend the vaccine to patients, colleagues or friends. Their misgivings were shared by some Russians who said they were too scared to try the vaccine, while others agreed with their government that scepticism expressed by foreign experts was driven by jealousy.

The vaccine's approval comes before trials that would normally involve thousands of participants, commonly known as phase three.

Health Minister Mikhail Murashko rejected safety concerns aired by some experts over the fast approval for the drug as "groundless". Russia will offer the vaccine to other countries once its own citizens are vaccinated, he said.

Gamaleya's director Alexander Gintsburg told TASS state news agency yesterday that volunteers taking part in the final stage testing of the vaccine's safety and efficacy would have two inoculations.

Moscow has said it plans to make five million doses per month by December or January. The vaccine would first be made available to medics and would later be available to all Russians on a voluntary basis.

Proportion of respondents in a survey of 3,040 doctors and health specialists who said they were not ready to be vaccinated.

Those who said they would agree to be given the vaccine.

Respondents who said they would recommend the vaccine to patients, colleagues or friends.

Russia reported 5,061 new cases yesterday, bringing its nationwide tally to 917,884, the fourth highest caseload in the world.

The country's coronavirus crisis response centre said 119 people had died over the past 24 hours, pushing its official death toll to 15,617. There are 92,000 people hospitalised with the virus and 2,900 in intensive care.

The pandemic response centre said 729,411 people have recovered.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, XINHUA