Russia claims developing first coronavirus vaccine

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country has developed the first vaccine fighting against the coronavirus.

“This morning, for the first time in the world, a vaccine against the new coronavirus was registered,” the President said. “One of my daughters had this vaccine. I think in this sense she took part in the experiment,” Vladimir Putin said.

Russia has hoped to launch mass production within weeks and turn out several million doses per month by next year. The World Health Organisation last week urged Russia to follow established guidelines and go through all the stages necessary to develop a safe vaccine.

Read more: Global coronavirus cases surpass 20 million

The coronavirus pandemic has seen an unprecedented mobilisation of funding to rush through a vaccine that can protect billions of people worldwide. It is to be noted that the number of coronavirus cases worldwide has surpassed 20 million, with Brazil and Mexico reporting a combined 27,000 infections in just one day.

More than 12.2 million have recovered, and over 734,000 have died from the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.