Putin considers taking Russia's 'Sputnik V' Covid-19 vaccine, as Seoul reveals Russian president is planning trip to South Korea
Russian President Vladimir Putin “is thinking about” getting vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the Kremlin. The revelation came after his plans were revealed by South Korea, following a call between Moscow and Seoul.
“As he is the head of state, of course, there are special precautions,” Peskov said on Tuesday. “He has already said that he is thinking about being vaccinated.”
Peskov also confirmed that Putin’s inoculation, should it occur, would not be kept a secret.
On Monday, South Korea’s presidential press service published details of a conversation between Putin and South Korean president Moon Jae-in, in which Putin announced his plan to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before a possible visit to Seoul. According to Peskov, Putin has not planned any trips abroad, but taking the vaccine will make any future travel much easier.
Earlier this week, senior virology researcher Fyodor Lisitsyn revealed that mass inoculation with Russia's homegrown Sputnik V vaccine may begin at the end of October, following the conclusion of its third trial phase. Lisitsyn works at Moscow's Gamaleya Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology, where the vaccine was developed. It is currently in its final trial, incorporating 40,000 volunteers.
On August 11, Putin announced that the country had registered the world's first Covid-19 vaccine. 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 the Sputnik V vaccine, showing it to be 100-percent effective, producing antibodies in all 76 participants of early-stage trials.
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