Over 5,000 Russians have taken world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, none have reported serious side effects

Trials of Russia’s Sputnik V, the world’s first registered vaccine against Covid-19, are going well, and giving hope of a return to normality. That's according to a statement from the ministry of health in Moscow.

More than 5,000 volunteers have received the formula, and there have been no severe side effects,officials announced on Monday. Trials are currently in the third, and final, stage.

“To date, more than 5,000 citizens have been vaccinated with the Sputnik V vaccine,”read a statement by the ministry, quoting Alexander Gintsburg, the head of Moscow's Gamaleya Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology, which created the formula. “Cases of significant undesirable and adverse reactions, other than the expected ones, have not been recorded.” 

According to Gintsburg, the anticipated side effects are a short-term increase in temperature as well as minor pain at the location of the injection.

Sputnik V’s final trial phase will see 40,000 Muscovites vaccinated. Last week, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that 60,000 residents of the capital had volunteered to participate in the program, 50 percent more than were needed. As part of the trial, volunteers are told to download a mobile application, which they can use to report symptoms and get quick access to medical professionals.

On August 11, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin announced that the country had registered the world's first Covid-19 vaccine, due to be available to the general public from January 2021.

The vaccine has been criticized by some Western countries for supposed unsafe rapid development and improper testing. However, at the start of September, respected British medical journal The Lancet published a study prepared by the developers of Sputnik V, showing it to be 100 percent effective, producing antibodies in all 76
participants of early-stage trials.

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