“The Russian developer, like other developers, applied to the WHO, and the procedure is underway. So we hope to hear soon that it [the vaccine] goes further. Certainly, we are optimistic, as always," Vujnovic told the Rossiya 24 channel, when asked whether the global health agency was ready to recommend the vaccine.
In August, Sputnik V became the first COVID-19 vaccine registered in Russia and the world. The vaccine is currently in phase 3 trials in Russia as well as in Belarus, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. India and Brazil are set to join the trials, according to reports. Sputnik V is claimed to be 92-percent effective based on data from the first 16,000 trial participants that received both shots of the two-dose vaccine.
