Putin Approves Second COVID-19 Vaccine

Russia’s Ministry of Health allows the approval of early coronavirus vaccines (Wikimedia Commons)

Russia announced the approval of another COVID-19 vaccine just two months after its first. Neither vaccine has undergone the rigorous trials demanded by most countries prior to vacccine approval. 

In a televised news conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “Novosibirsk’s Vektor [State Virology and Biotechnology Center, or Vector Institute] has registered the second Russian coronavirus vaccine today.” He further claimed that Tatyana Golikova, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, received the vaccine as part of a clinical trial, after early successful trials of 100 volunteers. 

Vector Institute, a Siberian biotech research center and former Soviet bioweapons lab, developed a peptide-based vaccine called the EpiVacCorona. It is one of the largest virological and biotechnological centers in Russia. 

The first vaccine, called Sputnik-V after the first space satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, was approved on August 11, becoming the world’s first state-approved vaccine against the coronavirus. Putin himself endorsed the vaccine, reporting that one of his adult daughters received the vaccine with minor side effects. However, many scientists remain doubtful of both vaccines, noting that no Russian authorities have offered proof of its effectiveness or safety. Its speedy approval greatly contrasts the Phase 3 trials required for most vaccines, which requires tens of thousands of volunteers and may take several months.

Several of these experts have cautioned against Russia’s fast pace in approving vaccines. “Fast-tracked approval will not make Russia the leader in the race, it will just expose consumers of the vaccine to unnecessary danger,” said Russia’s Association of Clinical Trials Organization (ACTO).

Despite these concerns, mass vaccination within Russia may start as early as the end of October. In an interview with a Russian television channel, Fyodor Lisitsyn of the Russian Health Ministry said, “The third phase of the vaccine’s trials is scheduled to be over in late October. Mass vaccination will begin as soon as the third phase is over. I hope it will be successful.”

Other countries have begun developing coronavirus vaccines as well, although not as fast-tracked as Russia’s. Both China and the UK showed early signs of developing a potentially successful vaccine, with doses seeming to trigger an immune response. However, the true efficacy of these vaccines remains unclear.

Since the start of the pandemic, more than 24,000 Russians have died and 1.4 million have gotten sick. Russia which ranks fourth in the world in case numbers.