Russia approves its third Covid-19 vaccine for domestic use: PM Mishustin

Russia approves its third COVID-19 vaccine for domestic use: PM Mishustin

Russia on Saturday approved a third coronavirus vaccine for domestic use, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on state TV, though large-scale clinical trials of the shot, labelled CoviVac and produced by the Chumakov Centre, have yet to begin.

Russia has already approved two Covid-19 vaccines, including the Sputnik V shot, developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute, following a similar approach of granting approval before seeing any late-stage trial results.

The preemptive approvals had raised concerns among some scientists in the West, but inoculations with those first two shots began on