First greeted with scepticism, experts have since been convinced of the effectiveness of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, with positive results published in The Lancet medical journal yesterday.
Analysis of data from 20,000 Phase 3 trail participants, published in The Lancet, suggests that the two-dose vaccination offers more than 90% efficacy against symptomatic Covid-19.
The development represents a scientific and political victory for Vladimir Putin's Russia. Putin at the forefront From the first weeks of the pandemic, the Russian president ordered the scientific, political and military apparatus of the country to work in overdrive to develop the world's first Covid vaccine - even if that meant taking shortcuts.