BackSputnik V: Belarus registers Covid vaccine, in first outside Russia
Belarus began conducting clinical trials using the Covid-19 vaccine on volunteers on 1 October and also reviewed data received during Russia's Phase III clinical trials
PremiumRussian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) on Monday said that the Belarusian Health Ministry has registered Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, becoming the first country outside Russia to do so.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, began conducting clinical trials using the Covid-19 vaccine on volunteers on 1 October and also reviewed data received during Russia's Phase III clinical trials, Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund said.
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Meanwhile, Russia began vaccinating its cosmonauts and staff at Star City, the closed town near Moscow that is home to the country's space programme, the Roscosmos space corporation said.
Cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Artemyev, a former crew member of the International Space Station, had the first of the two Sputnik V vaccine jabs on Friday, it said.
Olga Minina, head of the local clinic, said the cosmonauts had volunteered to take the vaccine, which is named after Soviet satellite that triggered the space race. It is one of a number of vaccines developed by Russia, and one of two in final phase trials that are yet to be completed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier said that he was yet to be inoculated but that he would do so when possible.
Russia rolled out the Sputnik V jab to medics and other frontline workers in Moscow earlier this month, and more than 200,000 people have already been vaccinated.
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