Sputnik vaccines reliable as AK-47 rifle: Putin

President Vladimir Putin has heralded Russia's COVID-19 vaccine offering as reliable as the country's world-renowned Kalashnikov (AK-47) assault rifle.

During a video conference on Thursday with Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, he said, "Our medications are based on technologies and platforms that have been used literally for decades. They are also very modern and up-to-date, and undoubtedly, they are the most reliable and the safest."

"They are as reliable as an AK-47. By the way, it wasn't us who said that, this was said by a European specialist. And I think that he is certainly right," TASS quoted Putin as saying.

The comment came as the country's health officials registered a single-dose version of the Sputnik V vaccine on Thursday, dubbed Sputnik Light.

Putin's comparison referenced the Soviet Union-era weapon that remains popular and widely used still today.

He was quoting a comment originally made by an Austrian doctor earlier this year about the jab's efficacy.

The Sputnik V vaccine works in a similar way to others developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson. It uses a cold-type virus, engineered to be harmless, as a carrier to deliver a small fragment of the coronavirus to the body.

Critics of the Putin administration were sceptical when the vaccine was given speedy regulatory approval in Moscow last year, but late-stage trials have found it offers high levels of protection against Covid-19.

The two-dose version of the jab has now been authorised in dozens of other countries around the world.

Sputnik Light, a single-use version where recipients only get the first jab, was officially authorised in Russia on Thursday.

In a press release, its makers said a single dose had demonstrated 79.4% efficacy during the country's vaccine roll-out.

"The single-dose regiment allows for immunisation of a larger number of people in a shorter time frame, furthering the fight against the pandemic during the acute phase," the statement said.The authorisation comes amid an ongoing international row over whether patents should be waived on vaccine technology to boost production. - BBC Sourcer: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com

Read More........ → May 08, 2021

India to produce 300 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine

DEC 18, 2020 MOSCOW: India will produce about 300 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in 2021, Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said. "In India, we have agreements with four large manufacturers. ... India will produce about 300 million doses or more of the vaccine for us next year," he said, in an interview to Rossiya 24 TV channel, quoted by Tass News Agency. Tass further reported that Dmitriev noted, out of 110 production sites that negotiated production of Sputnik V, RDIF chose 10 that meet its requirements. "The Russian Sputnik V will be actively produced in the world and we see that this is built on a safe platform based on the human adenovirus," Dmitriev added. The Russian embassy in India on Friday, quoting the RDIF CEO, said that Russia is testing the first samples of its Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 that were produced in India. Sputnik V, the world's first COVID-19 vaccine, is over 95 per cent effective, said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. Taking to Twitter, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) cited Putin saying that some health specialists have claimed that the vaccine's protection level reaches up to 96-97 per cent. The world COVID-19 caseload is nearing 75 million cases, as per the latest updates by Johns Hopkins University. The COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) reported that the world tally stands at 74,952,221 and 1,662,127 fatalities due to the virus, as of 9:56 am IST. About 42,318,910 patients -- who tested positive for COVID-19 worldwide -- have recovered from the disease, according to the dashboard further reporting that India continues to maintain pole position when it comes to most recoveries in the world with as many as 9,520,827 recoveries reported in the country. Copyright © Jammu Links News, Source: Jammu Links News

Read More........ → December 19, 2020

Biden joins battle for Senate as McConnell accepts win

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden waves as he arrives at Hartsfield Jackson International airport to campaign for Democratic U.S. senatorial candidates in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., December 15, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar

Newly United States President-elect Joe Biden has joined the Democratic battle for control of the US Senate on Tuesday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and others top Republicans and holdout foreign leaders was finally acknowledged Biden’s win for White House.

Biden, in the meantime, flew into Georgia, a southern state he won in an upset against President Donald Trump, to host a rally for two Democratic candidates in runoff races that will determine the Senate’s balance of power.

Addressing the crowd at the drive-in event in Atlanta, Biden said, “Honk for your next United States senators Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock”. During this, he urged voters to turn out in force on 5 January.

“Send me these two men, and we will control the Senate!” he added.

One day after the Electoral College affirmed Biden’s victory, attention shifted to the looming Senate battle — and to the shape of the incoming administration, as Biden also announced he had nominated Pete Buttigieg, a former Indiana mayor and presidential rival, as secretary of transportation.

Pete Buttigieg would be the first gay person confirmed by the Senate to a presidential cabinet post — in sync with Biden’s pledge to usher in the most diverse cabinet ever when he takes office on January 20.

Meanwhile, Trump still refuses to concede the defeat, continuing to tweet baseless allegations of mass fraud that have been rejected in dozens of lawsuits, top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell finally broke his silence with a message to the president: “It’s over.”

“The Electoral College has spoken. So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden,” McConnell said on the Senate floor, adding that Americans can also “take pride” that they will have their first female vice president in Kamala Harris.

Biden told reporters before flying to Georgia that he had a “good” phone conversation with McConnell, a longtime Senate colleague. “I told him that while we disagree on a lot of things, there are things we can work together on,” Biden said.The Electoral College confirmation triggered an acknowledgment of Biden’s win from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said he was “ready for collaboration” with the Democrat. Source: e

Read More........ → December 17, 2020