As the Covid crisis escalates across the world with India currently the third worst-hit, the news that it’s going to be Russia to deliver the first vaccine has no doubt created great interest. Till now, the world has learnt that it has been Oxford which is the frontrunner in efforts of bringing out the one and only solution of this great challenge and in comparison, Russia has been a rather underrated contender. But, the emphatic claim that Russia is going to be the ‘first among equals’ has come as a stunner, raising hopes and scepticism in equal proportion. While it’s effectiveness in confronting Covid-19 virus will be keenly watched and it will be clear within two months when actual mass application commences, it must be said that if successful, it will open a new chapter in the science of vaccinology where the biggest takeaway will be that vaccines can also be made within much lesser time spans in contrast to the usually accepted 1-2 year tenure and even more. If the reverse happens, it will then be counted as a Russian ‘misadventure’ resulting out of sheer haste and over-ambition.

All reports on this startling claim make a mention of the timeline for the Russian vaccine- official registration on August 12 followed by mass vaccinations in as early as October. While all these sound interesting, eyebrows are being raised by medical experts not only over the compressed method followed in clinical trials, but also the marked opacity regarding disclosure of clinical test data therein. Red flags are being raised increasingly since the news surfaced where the warning is the venture has got all chances of getting backfired i.e. severity of the disease can increase instead of the intended cure. Expressing concern, Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease specialist and the face of the US fight against the pandemic while questioning the blazing speed approach has openly raised questions if testing protocols have been adhered to by Russia at all. It also needs mentioning that WHO has been repeatedly appealing to all the 160+  developers currently in the race of coming out with the vaccine to proceed with caution only as per established guidelines and stress on safety before anything else.

At a time, when the global positive Covid counts have crossed the 20 million mark and deaths are nearing 7.5 lakh, vaccine is the only hope as all containment measures, however stringent, are proving only to be ephemeral in effectiveness. It matters little who makes it- UK, US, Russia or India. The safety and efficacy aspects will be paramount. One can only hope the Russian version of Covid vaccine passes these tests too.