Moscow, December 17: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced that he would be inoculated soon with a COVID-19 vaccine made by the drugmakers in the country. The prospective date of his vaccination could not be stated, as it would depend on the age-wise immunisation programme that would be rolled out by the country's health department.

Putin, in an attempt to allay apprehensions over the use of vaccine, appealed the citizens to get themselves inoculated as the mass vaccination begins. The vaccines have showed no major adverse reaction during the trials, he said, while speaking to the national media at the annual press conference. COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Russia's Sputnik V is 91.4% Efficient in Clinical Trials, Reveals Data.

The first vaccine in Russia, Sputnik V, was launched on August 11. The unveiling of the vaccine made Russia the first country to emerge with the likely "silver shot" against the pandemic. However, the mass vaccination drive could not begin as Moscow lacked the means to expedite the vaccine production.

The point was reiterated by Putin, as he claimed that Russia lacked equipment to produce enough of the vaccine doses. The Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute has also entered into a pact with drugmakers in other countries for domestic production of the vaccine candidate.

Experts, however, also cited the incomplete trials of Sputnik V as the reason behind the delay in rollout. Although Russia launched the vaccine in August, the clinical tests were yet to be completed. The data on efficacy was released only earlier this week, and showed the vaccine to be 91.4 percent effective.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 17, 2020 05:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).