epa08600539 A handout photo made available by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) shows containers with a new two-vector COVID-19 vaccine at Nikolai Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Russia, 06 August 2020 (issued 13 August 2020). Russia registered the new called Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus Sars-Cov-2 and opens the stage of its massive testing. EPA-EFE/RDIF HANDOUT NO RESTRICTIONS, ALLOW TO USE IN SOCIAL NETWORK HANDOUT Some scientists said they fear that with this fast regulatory approval Moscow may be putting national prestige before safety amid the global race to develop a vaccine against the disease.
Russia has said the vaccine, the first for the coronavirus to go into production, will be rolled out by the end of this month.
Its approval comes before trials that would normally involve thousands of participants, commonly known as Phase III. Such trials are usually considered essential precursors for a vaccine to secure regulatory approval.
The vaccine has been named "Sputnik V" in homage to the world's first satellite launched by the Soviet Union. President Vladimir Putin has assured the public that it is safe, adding that one of his daughters had taken it as a volunteer and felt good afterwards.
Moscow's Gamaleya Institute, which developed the vaccine, said previously that Russia would be producing about 5 million doses a month by December-January, Interfax said. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Ros Russell)