Russian President Vladimir Putin presides over a meeting aimed at supporting the aviation industry and air transport at his country residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, on May 13, 2020.
Alexey Nikolsky | AFP | Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Tuesday that Russia had developed the first vaccine for coronavirus and said his daughter had taken it, local news agencies reported.
Putin announced registration of what Russia claims to be the first vaccine against Covid-19.
“As far as I know, a vaccine against a new coronavirus infection has been registered this morning, for the first time in the world,” he said at a meeting with members of the government, RIA Novosti reported.
“Although I know it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity and, if I repeat, has passed all the necessary controls,” Putin said.
He also reportedly reported that one of his daughters had been vaccinated against the coronavirus, commenting, “In that sense, she took part in the experiment.”
At the end of July, the World Health Organization said there were 26 candidate vaccines in the clinical evaluation stage, including the one registered in Russia developed by the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
Russia has denied being part of a ‘weapons race’ to develop a vaccine, saying it wants to cooperate with other nations. However, there is international skepticism that Russia has developed an effective and secure vaccine.
The registration of the vaccine was signaled earlier this month. Russian Public Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told reporters earlier in August that clinical trials of the coronavirus vaccine were over.
“Clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Center are over, paperwork is underway for the registration of the vaccine,” Murashko was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Tass.
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