Scientists have expressed skepticism over Russia COVID vaccine called Sputnik V. despite President Vladimir Putin saying it “works quite effectively.”
He announced the registration of the Russian vaccine for coronavirus at a meeting with government officials.
“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, according to RIA Novosti's report.
“Although I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity and, I repeat, has passed all the necessary checks,” Putin said.
The clinical trials of this Russian vaccine only took less than two months to finish and phase three trials will start on Wednesday, despite the vaccine being registered already. Countries including the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia are participants in those trials.
Scientists and medical experts emphasized the uncertainty of whether the coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V works and its potential side effects it could bring to the general public if a large-scale phase three clinical trial is absent.
“Phase three trials are critical” for drug and vaccine development, according to Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Would I be confident about the safety and effectiveness without a phase three? Absolutely not.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is worried that the approval of Russia COVID vaccine could pressure the US to distribute a vaccine before it’s ready.
“It could be a major mistake. It could cause a lot of harm,” he said during an interview on CNBC’s “The Exchange,” saying Russia’s announcement of Sputnik V was a “political stunt.”
No silver bullet
The World Health Organization said there is no “silver bullet” for the coronavirus, which has infected over 20 million people across the world and killed 737,000 as of Tuesday, based on the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Sputnik V is reportedly facing challenges concerning its approval from the WHO before the international health organization will purchase or endorse it to other nations.
“You cannot use a vaccine or drugs or medicines without following through all of these stages, having complied with all of these stages,” Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, assistant director of WHO’s Pan American Health Organization, said during a press conference on Tuesday. “Currently WHO is in contact with the regulatory authorities in Russia in order to receive information on this vaccine and only after analyzing all of the information making it possible for WHO to make a recommendation.”
Moreover, scientists warn that some questions about the short- and long-term effects of the coronavirus on the human body remain unanswered. They say that the virus only surfaced seven months ago and it has not been deeply investigated.
Military-style testing
Infectious disease specialist Isaac Bogoch said he is also skeptical over Russia COVID vaccine even if he has “no doubts” that Russia can develop a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine.
However, “you can’t just start giving a vaccine to the public,” said Bogoch, a professor at the University of Toronto.
Scientists at Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology carried out military-style testing, accelerated clinical evaluations, and performed other methods to shorten the time needed to come up with a new vaccine, the Journal reported.
US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar pointed out that the shortened review is cause of concern.
“We need transparent data, and it’s got to be phase three data that shows that a vaccine is safe and effective,” he told ABC on Tuesday. “The point is not to be first with a vaccine, the point is to have a vaccine that is safe and effective for the American people and the people of the world.”
