Russia Covid-19 vaccine: More than 1 billion people will get Sputnik-V in 2020-21, says report

The country's sovereign wealth fund said that more than one billion people would receive its COVID-19 vaccine "Sputnik-V" in the said period, reported Reuters citing the Interfax news agency.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has already signed a deal to export the vaccine abroad and on the Brazilian state of Bahia. Along with that, the state also aims to buy 50 million doses to market in Brazil, officials said.

Another agreement with Kazakhstan, which is set to buy more than 2 million doses initially and could later increase the volume to 5 million doses.

India will be producing 300 million doses of the vaccine, according to reports.

The update comes in the backdrop of Russia earlier announcing that it has successfully fast-tracked its recently launched Sputnik V vaccine and is most likely to release the vaccine for civilian use soon, according to a report.

Sputnik V Covid vaccine, which is developed by Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology under the Russian Health Ministry, may be granted permission to release a batch of its vaccine for civilian use, the institute’s deputy director for research, said associate member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Denis Logunov, according to a report.

A Phase III trial is a large-scale one involving thousands of people - in Russia, 40,000 - over a longer stretch of time.

Meanwhile, Russian children have returned to schools after attending classes online since the coronavirus pandemic swept the country in late March.

To prevent another spike in cases, all teachers underwent mandatory virus tests before primary and secondary schools re-opened on 1 September. Temperature checks are conducted each morning and and school schedules were amended to reduce the number of students attending at the same time.

Authorities also limited how many children can be together in school cafeterias and recreation areas is also limited.

Moreover, three Moscow outpatient clinics have received the first batch of a covid vaccine against the coronavirus for post-registration trials, news agency TASS reported, citing Deputy Moscow Mayor Anastasia Rakova. Moscow residents can apply to participate in the study and be the first to obtain the vaccine, the deputy mayor said.

On August 11, Russia became the first country to license a Covid-19 vaccine, calling it "Sputnik V" in homage to the world's first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union. But western experts have warned against its use until all internationally approved testing and regulatory steps have been taken. The vaccine is undergoing Phase 3 trials.

The vaccine produced an antibody response in all participants in early-stage trials, according to results published by The Lancet medical journal earlier that were hailed by Moscow as an answer to its critics.

The results of the two trials, conducted in June-July this year and involving 76 participants, showed 100% of participants developing antibodies to the new coronavirus and no serious side effects, The Lancet said.

With inputs from agencies