Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Russian President Putin Tests Experimental Nasal Vaccine Against Covid-19


Wed 24 Nov 2021 | 05:21 PM
Ahmad El-Assasy

Three days after receiving his booster shot, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed he had taken an experimental nasal vaccine against the coronavirus, as the country faces its biggest increase of infections and deaths since the pandemic began, according to News 18.

In the spring, Putin received Sputnik V, Russia's locally made COVID-19 vaccine. He stated he received a booster of Sputnik Light, the one-dose version of the vaccine, on Sunday and that he intended to participate in a trial of the nasal version of Sputnik V.

Denis Logunov, deputy head of state-funded Gamaleya Center, which produced Sputnik V, told Putin on Sunday that the nasal vaccination has yet to be tested on the general population and is now being examined off-label, with most of the testing and monitoring taking place on staff members.

The vaccine will need to go through multiple trial phases, including those involving thousands of people, to prove that it is safe and effective to use, according to accepted scientific norms.