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Coronavirus pandemic
WorldRussia & Central Asia

Russia’s Vladimir Putin gets experimental nasal vaccine against coronavirus

  • The president recently received his Sputnik Light booster shot, as the country struggles to overcome vaccine hesitancy amid its worst Covid-19 surge
  • The nasal vaccine is yet to go through clinical studies and is currently being tested ‘off-label mostly’

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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a government meeting with government via video link in Sochi on Wednesday. Photo: Sputnik via Reuters
Associated Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he has taken an experimental nasal vaccine against the coronavirus, three days after he received his booster shot.
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Russia is facing its worst surge of infections and deaths since the pandemic began and is struggling to overcome widespread vaccine hesitancy.

Putin was vaccinated with Sputnik V, Russia’s domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine, in the spring.

On Sunday, he said he received a booster shot of Sputnik Light, the one-dose version of the jab, and said he wanted to take part in testing the nasal version of Sputnik V.

A worker sprays disinfectant solution on the concourse during a deep clean operation at Leningradsky railway station in Moscow, Russia in June. Photo: Bloomberg
A worker sprays disinfectant solution on the concourse during a deep clean operation at Leningradsky railway station in Moscow, Russia in June. Photo: Bloomberg
Denis Logunov, deputy director of Russia’s state-funded Gamaleya Centre that developed Sputnik V, told Putin on Sunday the nasal vaccine is yet to go through clinical studies and is currently being tested “off-label mostly” – on the centre’s staff members.
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