Russia has named its first approved COVID-19 vaccine ‘Sputnik V’, in reference to the world’s first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Dmitriev said Russia and its foreign partners are already prepared to manufacture over 500 million doses of the vaccine per year in five countries, and the plan is to ramp up production capacity even higher.

The vaccine's Phase 3 trial, involving thousands of participants, is set to take place in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and several other countries. The Russian Health Ministry said in a statement that the vaccine is expected to provide immunity from the coronavirus for up to two years.

The World Health Organization and Russian health authorities are discussing possible WHO pre-qualification of the new vaccine, a WHO spokesman said Tuesday, adding that pre-qualification of any vaccine requires rigorous review and assessment.