Some countries have launched an “information war” against the Russian vaccine for coronavirus, said the director of the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
Speaking during an online conference, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) – which supports the vaccine – added the country has already received requests for about a billion doses from various peoples around the world.
“The topic of vaccines is extremely important for all countries,” Dmitriev said during the conference, which focused on explaining the science behind prevention. “This kind of briefing is very important to us because we see that a number of countries have opened an information war against Russia.”
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“Nevertheless, we see that the majority of countries are curious to learn the extra facts about this vaccine and would like to know how it actually works. The more vaccines we have, the better for all of humanity,” he said.
Russian authorities and scientists say the vaccine, approved for use by domestic regulators, is safe and induces a significant immune response against COVID-19, based on results from small-scale human trials in recent months.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, among other officials, declared the country the first to have a COVID-19 vaccine license. However, several Western experts have expressed skepticism, given that the results of these trials have not yet been published. They warn that the vaccine should not be used until the vaccine has passed all internationally recognized phases of clinical trials.
According to Dmitriev, data on the vaccine – named “Sputnik V” in honor of the Soviet satellite that was the first to be launched into space in the world – will be published in an academic journal later this month.
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Dmitriev further said that mass testing of the vaccine – described as a “post-registration clinical trial” – will begin next week. It will involve more than 40,000 volunteers in “full compliance with international best practices.” The trial will be randomized and placebo-controlled – the gold standard of testing for human medicines – and will be overseen by a foreign clinical research organization that was not disclosed, the director said.
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“That will be a very important test that will go hand in hand with vaccination [of high-risk groups, such as health workers,]”Dmitriev said.
The RDIF director said that Russia is able to produce about 500 million doses per year, through production partners. Data from the trial after registration will be provided to the World Health Organization, as well as to other countries considering participating, such as the United Arab Emirates, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.
Normally when faxes are tested, large “Phase III” tests like these are typically held before a particular candidate is approved. However, Russian officials have decided to approve the vaccine early in view of the nature of the pandemic.
At least four other COVID-19 vaccine candidates around the world have reached this stage, but have yet to be approved by regulators in their own countries.
