Russia has rushed out a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of testing that President Vladimir Putin says his daughter has been given.
The Guardian reports: “The development was hailed by the president as evidence of Russia’s scientific prowess, but the truncated testing regime has raised eyebrows elsewhere for skipping so-called Phase 3 large-scale safety trials, which usually take months. … Putin said that his daughter had a temperature of 38C on the day of the first vaccine injection, and then it dropped to just over 37C on the following day. After the second shot she again had a slight increase in temperature, but then it was all over.”
Said Putin: “She’s feeling well and has high number of antibodies.”
“As far as I know, this morning the first vaccine against the novel conoravirus infection in the world was registered,” Putin added.
The plan is to begin giving the vaccine to medical workers, teachers, and other front line workers in October.
Bloomberg reports: “The announcement represents a propaganda coup for the Kremlin amid a global race to develop vaccines against the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 750,000 people, infected more than 20 million and crippled national economies. Companies including AstraZeneca Plc and Moderna Inc. are still conducting final-stage trials of their vaccines in studies that are expected to soon yield results. Some pharmaceutical companies have called Russia’s rushed registration dangerous.”
