The COVID-19 Novel Corona Virus Pandemic has been ravaging most countries across the earth for over 7 months now! This deadly Virus has already claimed thousands of lives and infected hundreds and thousands of people! As teams of researchers & scientists are racing to find a cure or vaccine to combat this Corona Virus, Russia has come out and announced the first ever vaccine for COVID-19, the Sputnik V! However, many people from the medical fraternity of other countries are skeptical about this vaccine, as it has been registered even before the completion of Phase 3 trials which involve thousands of people and goes on for months! However, to prove his faith in the vaccine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has take a massive step!

Putin has revealed that one of his own daughters has been inoculated by being injected with the Vaccine and is doing fine. Speaking at a government meeting earlier today, Putin has stated that the vaccine has proven to be very efficient during the tests and also that it offers lasting immunity from the Corona Virus. He emphasised that the vaccine has undergone all the necessary steps. Reports quote the Russian authorities as stating that healthcare workers, teachers and other high risk groups would be administered the vaccine first as they are on the frontlines. This vaccine has been named after the Soviet satellite Sputnik V and has been jointly developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute and Russian Defence Ministry! 

Russia has thus become the first country to provide regulatory approval for a COVID vaccine, with less than two months of human testing! However, the Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko has stated that the vaccine's registration is conditional and that trials will continue even when the production gets underway! He added that the production of this vaccine will begin at two sites - the Gamaleya Institute and the production facility of the company Binnopharm! Kirill Dmitryiev - Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which finances this vaccine product, has stated that the Phase 3 trials for Sputnik V would begin on Wednesday with industrial production set to start in September. He also added that over 20 countries have already pre-ordered more than a billion doses of the vaccine! Dmitryiev also added that Russia is ready to manufacture over 500 million doses of the vaccine per year, collaborating with foreign partners in 5 countries! A latest report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that a total of about 165 vaccine candidates are being worked on, around the world! Of these, 139 candidates are in pre-clinical evaluation while 26 are in various stages of human trials, with 6 of them being in very advanced stages! Stay tuned for updates...