Russia is gearing up to bring its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine to the market at some stage this month, despite concerns that it has not gone through a proper testing process. Final Phase III tests involving 400,000 people only began last Wednesday. Sputnik V is already mandatory for military personnel while a small independent teachers' union has urged its members to avoid being coerced into accepting shots of the vaccine during back-to-school season.
Even though it seems Russia is almost certain to carry out mass vaccinations over the coming weeks, a recent Ipsos MORI poll found that only 57 percent of Russians think a Covid-19 vaccine will be available by the end of 2020. It may well be that a large swathe of the public is holding out to see how the final trials pan out before taking their chances on Sputnik V. Similarly, China has also developed a vaccine, obliging members of its military to take the CanSino innoculation before testing for its commercial sale are complete.
CanSino Biologics has already announced positive trials and this may have resonated with the public, 87 percent of whom agree that a Covid-19 vaccine will be available in China by the end of the year. In the United States and Germany, the share in agreement is far lower at just 34 percent and 24 percent, respectively.
