“All Russian vaccines are as reliable as an AK-47” says Vladmir Putin assuring ‘safety’

President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia’s Covid-19 vaccines are as reliable as the country’s world-renowned Kalashnikov rifle, reported news agency TASS. Four domestically developed Covid-19 vaccines have been approved in Russia so far.

Addressing a video conference with Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova on Thursday, Putin said, “Our medications are based on technologies and platforms that have been used literally for decades. They are also very modern and up-to-date, and undoubtedly, they are the most reliable and the safest.”

Russia faced criticism last year for authorising Sputnik V before advanced trials had even started. Perception started changing about Sputnik V in February this year when trial data was published in the journal The Lancet. The paper said the vaccine “appears safe and effective” and was 91% effective against coronavirus.

Putin made this statement on the day Russian medical authorities gave regulatory approval to a single-dose version of the country’s Sputnik V vaccine. The single-dose version of the COVID-19 vaccine is being called Sputnik Light. It is identical to the first dose of the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine. Sputnik Light is yet to complete advanced clinical trials.

India will examine the claim that a single dose of Russian vaccine “Sputnik Light” can provide protection from the novel coronavirus infection, NITI Aayog member VK Paul said today.

“Sputnik V is a two-dose vaccine taken at a gap of three weeks. The unique feature of it is that the antigens in the first and second dose are different from each other. In other vaccines, both doses are the same. In case of Sputnik Light, they (developers) are saying that the first dose is enough. We are examining this claim. We will go through its data and immunogenicity, and after that we will see. Let more information come in,” Mr Paul said.