Russia seeks to legitimize Sputnik V

Given the lack of Phase III data, it is not surprising that some international media reports reacted with skepticism to Russia’s approval of the so-called Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 last week.

So the experts lined up to give a media briefing on the vaccine on Thursday focused on irrefutable evidence showing human adenovirus-based drugs to be safe and effective, and on the experience of Moscow's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in using this technology.

The center has been working on adenoviral vector-based vaccines since the 1980s and produced one against Ebola and another – albeit unapproved – against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).