Russia points to China to vindicate vaccine stance

When Russia chose to approve the Moscow-developed Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 this month, more than a few eyebrows were raised in the western world, in particular due to the absence of Phase III data.

But the approach of approving a vaccine without the usual conclusive late-stage data has been vindicated by China adopting the same strategy, says a Moscow official.

"Many countries are following Russia's approach" Reuters has reported that Sinovac Biotech’s (Nasdaq: SVA) coronavirus vaccine candidate CoronaVac was approved in July for emergency use as part of a program in China to vaccinate high-risk groups.