Russian coronavirus vaccine could ‘potentially’ dangerous, Iran warns
By our reporter
Aug. 12, 2020 – Hours after Russia approved the first global vaccine against Coronavirus, the Iranian government is warning of potential dangers of the vaccine, Sputnik-V which has drawn international criticism for not completing phase three clinical trials.
Iranian Health Ministry, on Wednesday has called on potential users to take caution before thinking of taking the vaccine.
Spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry Kianush Jahanpur in a tweet said “Before all clinical trials are completed, the use of vaccines is like a Pandora’s Box and, therefore, potentially dangerous,’’ spokesperson, tweeted.
Jahanpur added that countries should remember that the goal of a vaccine must be the safety and health of the population.
According to the Spokesperson, in Greek mythology, the box opened by the curious Pandora contained all the evils in the world, including sickness.
Iran has been hit hard by the pandemic, with more than 330,000 infections and 18,800 fatalities and like many countries, Tehran has said it is also working on a vaccine.
However, against international criticism, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko on Wednesday announced his plans to get immunized with the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 later in the month as soon as the vaccine is released in August.
On Tuesday, Russia announced registering the world’s first coronavirus vaccine, dubbed Sputnik V, set to be produced industrially.
President Vladimir Putin has endorsed the vaccine, saying it has passed all necessary checks.
The Russian vaccine was developed jointly by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry.
It has two separately injected components that together are expected to build sustainable immunity against the virus.
The vaccine has so far been tested on 76 volunteers separately at two institutions — the Moscow-based Sechenov University and the Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital.
Russian officials estimated the production capacity at 500 million doses in the next 12 months, including at facilities abroad.
The announcement has however drawn scepticism over the speed of its regulatory approval and because Russia had not shared data from large-scale clinical trials