Russia became the first country to register the world's first COVID-19 vaccine that "forms stable cell and antibody immunity". The vaccine Sputnik V, which is named after the space satellite launched by Moscow in 1957, was registered on August 11, 2020. Russia President Vladimir Putin said that one of his daughters has already been inoculated and she is feeling well.

Russia is the fourth worst-hit nation by the pandemic after the US, Brazil, and India. The vaccine has been jointly developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the overall number of coronavirus cases across the globe has reached 21.7 million, while the death toll has reached 7,75,244. As of August 16, Russia has tallied a total of 917,884 cases, with 15,617 deaths.

The COVID-19 vaccine by Russia is expected to enter into civilian circulation on January 1, 2021. Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that teachers and medical workers will be the first to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He also said that two sites - the Gamaleya Research Institute and pharmaceutical company Binnopharm JSC - will be used for producing the vaccine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin himself endorsed the vaccine and said that it has passed all necessary checks. However, the country has faced criticism from different quarters for rushing the vaccine into production.

The third stage of the research on the world's first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus, called Sputnik V, may begin in 7-10 days, a report has said. Several tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in this research of the vaccine that will be conducted in the Moscow Region.

In photo: The COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. Pic/Russian Direct Investment Fund/AFP

After Russia registered the first COVID-19 vaccine, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Randeep Guleria, who is one of India's leading medical experts, said that the COVID-19 vaccine development has moved so rapidly because of the collaborative work between various countries.

In India, three vaccine candidates are in different stages of human clinical trials - one developed by the University of Oxford by Pune's Serum Institute of India, the second is inactivated virus vaccine by Bharat biotech and the third is DNA vaccine by Zydus Cadila.

In his address to the nation on 74th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the fight against the pandemic was progressing in the right direction and at the right pace. He said that three vaccines are currently under testing phase in India and their mass production will begin as soon as the scientists give the green signal.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are currently over 165 COVID-19 vaccines in different stages of development. Talking about the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, an official of the UN health agency said that WHO does not have sufficient information about the vaccine to comment on its effectiveness.

In photo: A view of the pharmaceutical factory Binnofarm in the town of Zelenograd outside Moscow, where Russia is starting to produce the anti-coronavirus vaccine.

A top respiratory doctor quit the Russian health ministry's ethics council after the country decided to go ahead with the registration of the vaccine even before conducting a crucial Phase 3 trial. Professor Alexander Chuchalin wanted to block the registration of the vaccine on "safety" grounds, before quitting the ethics council.

Five days after the registration of the COVID-19 vaccine, Russia began production of the first batch of vaccines against COVID-19. Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Russia will offer the vaccine to other countries once its own citizens are vaccinated. He also said that doubts over the effectiveness of the vaccine were unfounded.

Meanwhile, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), had said that as per the arrangement with AstraZeneca, SII will be making one billion doses of Covishield vaccine over the next one year for India and other low-and-middle-income countries (GAVI countries).

The vaccine developed by the University of Oxford by Pune's Serum Institute of India will be called Covishield and will be distributed free to the government. Poonawalla also said that a few million vaccine doses would be available by November-December and 300 million doses by January-March 2021. On the other hand, SII will introduce candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax for COVID-19 at less than Rs 250 per dose in India.