Russia claims fast-track COVID-19 vaccine victory with 'Sputnik-V'; Putin says he gave the drug to his daughter

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the country has approved the world's first coronavirus vaccine.

What are the details?

Putin announced the approval for the new vaccine on Tuesday, lauding the approval as the first of its kind the world over.

On state TV, the Russian president said, "A vaccine against coronavirus has been registered for the first time in the world this morning. I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity."

Putin added, "I would like to repeat that it has passed all the necessary tests. We must be grateful to those who made that first step very important for our country and the entire world."

"I hope our foreign colleagues' work will move as well, and a lot of products will appear on an international market that could be used," the Russian president noted.

Putin also said that one of his daughters received the vaccine and said that though it appeared to have initially elevated her temperature, "Now she feels well."

Putin's daughter also reportedly now "has a high number of antibodies."

'Sputnik-V'

CNN reports that the drug was developed by Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute and has been named "Sputnik-V."

The outlet adds that the expeditiousness of the Russian vaccine is due in part to "political pressure from the Kremlin," which reportedly aims to portray the country as a "global scientific force."

"Russia has released no scientific data on its testing," the outlet reports.

Russian officials reportedly told the network that at least 20 countries across the world — and even some U.S. companies — have expressed interest in the vaccine.

The Associated Press on Tuesday reported that many in the worldwide scientific community are concerned over the announcement and insist that fast-tracking such a drug, and skipping Phase 3 trials, could ultimately backfire.

At the time of this writing, researchers at Johns Hopkins University estimate that there have been at least 895,691 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Russia, with at least 15,103 deaths attributed to the deadly virus.