In the global race of discovering the vaccine to treat the deadliest COVID-19 global pandemic, Russia has announced that it has made a breakthrough by hitting the finishing line of the race first after it claimed that it has developed the world's first COVID-19 vaccine. 

The announcement, which has come amid reeling through the pandemic, was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin himself on Tuesday. He said that his country has developed the first vaccine that works quite effectively and forms a stable immunity against the COVID-19 viral infection and the President further revealed that one of his daughters has already been administered with the vaccine. 

According to the reports, President Putin has made the announcement during a government meeting and he mentioned the development as a very important step for the world. By highlighting that one of his daughters has been vaccinated, Putin said that after the first vaccination, she had a body temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, and the following day, it was slightly over 37 degrees Celsius.

After the second round of vaccination, her temperature had increased a little and then everything was normal and she feels good and the antibody is high and the President asserted that the vaccine works quite effectively and forms a stable immunity. Putin further thanked those who worked on developing the first-ever vaccine against COVID-19 and he expressed hope that his country would be able to start mass production of this vaccine in the near future. 

According to the reports, Russia's Health Minister Mikhail Murashko has said that the first-ever Russian vaccine against COVID-19 will begin to be produced at two sites in the country - Binnopharm and the Gamaleya Research Institute. The Health Minister claimed that many countries are already showing interest in the vaccine and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is investing in the production and promotion of the vaccine beyond the borders. 

The reports stated that the vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry and the vaccine has two separately-injected components that together would be constructing a long-term immunity to fight against the virus. The vaccine has been named 'Sputnik V' in reference to the world's first satellite that was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. The country has started the clinical trials of vaccine on June 18 and administered the vaccine on 38 volunteers and all of them had developed immunity. 

While on the one hand, Putin has approved the use of vaccines on Tuesday, on the other hand, critics raise concerns over the unanswered questions on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. According to the global reports, Russia hasn't released any scientific data on its testing and the vaccine is yet to go through the third phase of human trials where over a thousand people would be vaccinated. 

Critics claimed that Russia's push for launching the vaccine before any other nation was partly due to the political pressure from the Kremlin, the official residence of the Russian President, to showcase the country as a global scientific force. However, the Russian officials revealed that at least 20 countries have shown interest in the vaccine. The reports stated that the third and final phase of human trials would start on Wednesday. According to Reuters, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been discussing with the Russian Health Authorities for possible prequalification for the country's COVID-19 vaccine.

The spokesman of the global agency said the development for prequalification and pressed that the prequalification of any vaccine includes the rigorous review and assessment of all required safety and efficacy data. According to the reports, Russia has reported 4,945 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday taking the country's tally to 8,97,599 so far and Russia is the fourth worst-hit country in the world by COVID-19 outbreak after the United States, Brazil, and India. WHO said that over 100 vaccines are being developed in the world to fight the global pandemic.