The Federal Government has today received samples of Russia’s controversial COVID-19 vaccine.
“Russia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Alexey Shebarshin, delivered the samples to the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, during a visit to the ministry in Abuja.”
This was revealed in a statement by the Director of Information, Media, and Public Relations, Olujimi Oyetomi.
According to a report for the CNBC “Early results from trials of Russia’s potential coronavirus vaccine show no major negative side effects, a study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, The Lancet revealed on Friday.”
It will be recalled that the first peer-reviewed results of Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine, which is named Sputnik-V, have been published in the medical journal,The Lancet last Friday.
The two 42-day trials – which each included 38 healthy adults – “have a good safety profile with no serious adverse events” among participants, The Lancet said in a press release, noting that the vaccine-induced antibody responses in all participants.
Russia faced criticism last month when it announced the world’s first approved coronavirus vaccine for public use, even before Phase 3 trials are completed.
Russia also faced skepticism over how quickly the vaccine was registered and the initial lack of scientific data around the clinical trials.
Naor Bar-Zeev, deputy director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins University said in a linked comment that the studies are “encouraging but small,” according to The Lancet. Bar-Zeev was not involved in the Russian study, but peer reviewed it.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) funding the vaccine development said the trial results confirm the “high safety and efficacy” of the vaccine, adding in a statement last Friday that the results are “a powerful response to sceptics who unreasonably criticized the Russian vaccine.”
