COVID: WHO in talks with Russian institute over Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine
It was found to be 92% effective and discussions are ongoing over its potential application for emergency use listing.
Thursday 12 November 2020 20:00, UK
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is in talks with the Russian institute that developed the Sputnik V candidate vaccine against COVID-19 over its potential application for emergency use listing.
It was found to be 92% effective following interim trials, and if granted, the WHO would effectively be recommending its use to member states.
The procedure streamlines the process by which new and unlicensed vaccines and other products can be used during a crisis, such as the coronavirus outbreak.
In a statement, the UN agency said: "WHO has been in touch with the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, who expressed interest in applying for WHO emergency use listing.
"We look forward to receiving the data for their Sputnik V candidate vaccine.
"If a product submitted for assessment is found to meet the criteria for listing, WHO will publish the results widely."
The organisation, which is backing the speeding up of the development of vaccines to tackle the global pandemic, has not yet prequalified any experimental jab, nor issued an emergency use listing.
Russia's results are only the second from a late-stage human trial, after a shot being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which said on Monday that its vaccine was found to be 90% effective in preventing people from getting the virus.
The scientist behind the Pfizer vaccine told Sky News on Thursday that people in the UK could be vaccinated against coronavirus by the middle of next month.
Speaking in his first interview with a UK broadcaster, Professor Ugur Sahin, co-founder of German firm BioNTech, said the first vaccines could be rolled out to patients nationwide by the middle of next month.
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But he said it would depend on whether the UK regulator licenses it in time, adding: "The earliest time point for supplying vaccines will not be before the middle of December.
"And the middle of December will not mean the situation will dramatically change.
"This will be a difficult winter. It will become worse before it becomes better."