40,000 Russians Are About to Get That Untested COVID-19 Vaccine – Futurism

Beginning next week, 40,000 volunteers will take the coronavirus vaccine that was recently approved and lauded by the Russian government.

The vaccine, which Russia has dubbed Sputnik V, is going to be distributed in a randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled clinical study, Ars Technica reports. Such large-scale experiments are a crucial part of making sure that a vaccine or any other medical treatment is both safe and effective but its also something that usually happens before that vaccine is approved amidst fanfare.

Its that reverse order that has experts around the world skeptical of Russias claims. Doctors have only tested Sputnik V in small, earlier-stage clinical trials, and the data from those experiments still arent available.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been trying to get any sort of information about those earlier studies out of the Russian government, Ars Technica reports, but to little avail. That doesnt necessarily mean that the vaccine doesnt work as well as the Russian government claims but,at the same time, theres no evidence available that it does.

And some of Russias claims are pretty bold.

I know it has proven efficient and forms a stable immunity, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced earlier this month, according to AP News. We must be grateful to those who made that first step very important for our country and the entire world.

But without cold, hard data, experts are unlikely to be swayed.

Its essential we dont cut corners in safety or efficacy, WHO senior emergency official Catherine Smallwood told AP News.

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40,000 Russians Are About to Get That Untested COVID-19 Vaccine - Futurism