Russia recently approved its main COVID vaccine, Sputnik V, for use by people over the age of 60. Russian news agencies cited the health ministry as saying the shot was tested on this age group separately. Russia has been widely criticised for giving Sputnik V regulatory approval in August after it was tested only on a few dozen people and then rushing to offer it to people in risk groups — such as medical workers and teachers — within weeks of approval.
The efficacy of Russia’s vaccine ‘Sputnik V’ has been confirmed at 91.4%, according to an official release on the vaccine’s official website. As per the statement, “the efficacy was recorded based on the final control point analysis of data obtained 21 days after administering the first dose.” The Gamaleya Center will now move to create a report for the accelerated registration of the Sputnik V vaccine in various countries, it added.
Russia on December 5 started a mass vaccination drive of its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in Moscow city, where high-risk groups will receive jabs across 70 stations. Doctors, teachers and other frontline workers have been streamlined to receive the jab. The vaccination drive will see people aged between 18 to 60 years line up at vaccination centres every day from 8 am to 8 pm in order to get the shot. Children, people with underlying health conditions, pregnant and breastfeeding women have been left out of the vaccination drive.
68-year-old Putin said earlier that the Russian vaccine was effective and safe and he saw no reason not to be vaccinated adding that he was waiting until it became available. The total number of cases of coronavirus infections in Russia crossed the 3 million mark for the first time on Saturday after officials recorded 29,258 new cases in the preceding 24 hours and 567 deaths. This brought the total number of cases of coronavirus in Russia since the start of the pandemic to 3,021,964, according to official data.
