Coronavirus vaccine: Russia launches 'world's first COVID-19 vaccine', here is how it will actually work

As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise at an alarming rate across the globe, scientists and medical experts are making accelerated efforts to develop a vaccine fit for human use. Currently, there are more than 160 vaccine candidates in different stages of production and 27 of these have reached the human trials. While the vaccine created by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca is considered one of the frontrunners in the race to develop a coronavirus jab, Russia has become the first country in the world to launch its coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday.

President Vladimir Putin has announced that one of his daughters has already been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as Russia became the 'world's first nation' to register a coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday.

According to agency reports, Putin emphasized that the vaccine had passed all the necessary tests and of one of her daughters had taken part in the trial. "She's feeling well and has a high number of antibodies," the Russian leader added.

The vaccine candidate developed by Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Centre and Russian defence ministry has been raising eyebrows ever since the announcement of it being the ‘world’s first COVID-19 vaccine’ started doing rounds. As per the recent updates, the coronavirus vaccine has been registered on August 11, 2020, making Russia the first country in the world to register a vaccine to battle the novel coronavirus.

Russia’s vaccine candidate is an adenovirus-based viral vector vaccine which is combined with the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to induce an immune response in the body. Addressing speculations about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya National Research Centre maintained that the coronavirus particles in the vaccine cannot harm the body as they cannot multiply.

According to Sputnik News Agency, Alexander Gintsburg said, “The particles and objects that can reproduce their own kind are the ones that are considered alive. The particles in question cannot multiply.

While the Russian vaccine was given the go-ahead by Russia’s sanitary watchdog ‘Anna Popova’, experts are questioning the fast track approach in the development of the vaccine. Alexander Chepurnov who is the former head of infectious diseases at Vektor was sceptical about the data provided by the Russian government. He said, "The danger is there in terms of the possibility of increasing the disease‘s severity with the wrong vaccine.

Pointing out that there is always a scope of 'infection intensifying', he said, “With some diseases —and for the coronavirus, this is already known that the infection can intensify with the presence of certain antibodies. So it should be known which antibodies the vaccine forms.”

It should be noted that the World Health Organization has already sternly advised the Russian authorities to proceed as per the already established guidelines to produce a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine.