It might not be the space race, but there’s a new Sputnik in town. As an homage to the first-ever artificial Earth satellite, Russia has christened the world’s first registered coronavirus vaccine ‘Sputnik V’.
“In 1957, the successful launch of the first space satellite by the Soviet Union reinvigorated space research around the world. The new Russian Covid-19 vaccine is therefore called Sputnik V,” the official website explains.
On Tuesday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on television that the country had registered the world's first vaccine against coronavirus, which is due to be available to the general public by January. Before then, priority will be given to medical workers and teachers.
Since the satellite’s launch, the phrase ‘Sputnik moment’ has been used to describe the point at which a country realizes it needs to catch up with developments made by another nation. In 1957, when news of Sputnik broke, the US was caught unprepared, igniting the Cold War space race. Just as was the case 63 years ago, Sputnik V is being framed as a victory.
The website explains how the adenovirus vaccine works, with the goal of providing “up-to-date information about Sputnik V” to combat “the misinformation campaign launched against it” in the international media.
Sputnik V has not been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is maintaining “close contact with the Russian health authorities.” According to WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic, the prequalification of any vaccine requires “rigorous review and assessment of all required safety and efficacy data,” which the organization is yet to see.
Also on rt.com Putin says Russia’s Health Ministry has approved world’s FIRST Covid-19 vaccine, his own daughter has been vaccinatedThink your friends would be interested? Share this story!