Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will take the Sputnik V vaccine, though he hasn’t specified a timeline on when.
Putin reportedly told South Korean President Moon Jae-in during a phone call that he would take the shot before he goes to see him in Seoul, according to Newsweek, who cited Russian state media.
“I will come to South Korea … I will personally take the Russian vaccine and go,” Putin said, responding to Moon’s invitation to visit his country.
Moon’s administration noted that the president praised the active cooperation between South Korea and Russia when it comes to shipbuilding and other areas. The two also discussed the coronavirus pandemic.
Putin announced the approval of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine in August, claiming it as the world’s first vaccine against COVID-19, which has now infected over 30 million people worldwide.
Sputnik V was developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute and was named after the 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union.
Though Putin has credited the vaccine as working “quite effectively” in establishing immunity, Russian healthcare workers remain skeptical.
Anastasia Vasilyeva, a Russian doctor and ally of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, told CNN she believes the vaccine is just to present the optics of Russia being a global scientific leader.
“I think it’s to show Russia is a big, strong country, that Putin is a big, strong president,” Vasilyeva said.
Her colleague, who spoke in anonymity over fears of repercussions at work, said he was also hesitant to try the vaccine out himself, adding that it was odd that Russia was able to develop it faster than nations with far more extensive scientific networks.
“Explain to me: How could it be that such powerful European and international organizations could not do it but a relatively small Gamaleya Institute could?” the surgeon said. “I cannot understand it.”
Putin also previously praised Russia’s overall handling of the pandemic, saying he believed his country was coming out of the pandemic with minimal losses, unlike the United States.
Though the country has seen over 1 million cases, its death toll has been relatively low in comparison, with only about 20,000 reported deaths.
“We are working rather smoothly and emerging from this situation with the coronavirus confidently and with minimal losses,” Putin said over the summer. “But in the (United) States, that is not happening.”
