Covid-19 vaccine update: US begins vaccination drive, Russia claims its Sputnik V over 91% effective

Israel’s defence ministry has said the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) has “successfully completed” phase one of the domestic Covid-19 vaccine trials and plans to start phase two “in the coming days.”

The fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has entered a crucial phase as countries have started vaccination drives to immunise people from the pandemic. While the United Kingdom last Tuesday became the first country to start Covid-19 vaccination outside trial stage, the United States, on Monday, too, began its vaccination drive. Both countries have given emergency use authorisation (EUA) to Pfizer Inc’s vaccine candidate; Canada and Bahrain are also among countries to have granted Pfizer vaccine candidate permission to be used in emergency cases.

Gina Harper, clinical coordinator with the pharmacy, measures out the exact amount of the Covid-19 vaccine for a dose before it is administered to the first patients in Colorado at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in Fort Collins, Colo. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via AP)

Click here for full Covid-19 coverage

Here are the latest updates on the Covid-19 vaccine development front:

1. President Donald Trump on Monday announced the administration of the first Covid-19 vaccine in the United States. “First vaccine administered. Congratulations USA! Congratulations World!” tweeted Trump as vaccinations began across the US. While healthcare workers are first in line for a shot, acting secretary of defence, Christopher Miller, was among those to receive a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech SE vaccine.

2. Developers of Russia’s Sputnik V, which Moscow claims is the world’s first registered vaccine against Covid-19, on Monday said it had shown an efficacy of 91.4% based on the final analysis of data from clinical trials. The calculation, the developers said, was based on analysis of data of the volunteers who received the first and second doses of Sputnik V, or a placebo, at “the third and final control point of 78 confirmed cases in accordance with the Phase III clinical trials protocol.”

3. Israel’s defence ministry has said the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) has “successfully completed” phase one of the domestic Covid-19 vaccine trials and plans to start phase two “in the coming days.” Phase two, the ministry said, would take place with approximately 1,000 volunteers, which, if successful, would be followed by a third phase involving up to 30,000 volunteers.