Russian Ministry of Health: First Batch of Coronavirus Vaccine Was Produced

Russia said, Saturday, August 15, that it had produced the first batch of the Coronavirus vaccine after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country was the first in the world to approve a vaccine.

Putin’s announcement on the vaccine on Tuesday was met with warnings from scientists and the World Health Organization, who said it still needed a strict safety review.

“The first batch of the new Coronavirus vaccine was produced,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

Putin said the vaccine was safe and his daughters had been vaccinated, although clinical trials had not yet been completed and final-stage tests in which more than 2,000 people took part began this week only.

Scientists were skeptical, with some warning that moving too quickly on a vaccine could be dangerous, but Russia denounced the criticism as an attempt to undermine Moscow’s research.