Russia skips COVID-19 vaccine trial, says millions to be vaccinated this month

Enlarge / The unproven vaccine candidate has been dubbed "Sputnik V" (credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that Russia is the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval for a COVID-19 vaccine-dubbed Sputnik V."

Putin claimed that one of his own daughters has already received a dose of the vaccine, according to reports from Moscow-though he didn't note which daughter. Russian officials pledged to vaccinate millions within the month, starting with healthcare workers and teachers.

Little is known about Sputnik V, which was developed by researchers at the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow. There is no public data on the vaccine, let alone any published, peer-reviewed scientific studies. Public registration of two small clinical trials notes that Sputnik V uses a viral-vector-based design, but they suggest that it has only been tested in a small number of people. The trials, which began less than two months ago, each enrolled 38 healthy volunteers and have an estimated study completion date of August 15.

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