Putin hopes WHO soon approves Russia's Sputnik V vaccine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that he hoped for a quick approval of the country's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine by the World Health Organization, saying the move is essential for expanding global supplies, as reported by ABC News.

Putin noted that receiving the WHO's vetting is necessary to spread the Russian vaccine more broadly around the world, including free supplies.

Putin was vaccinated with Sputnik V in the spring, and last month he received a booster shot of Sputnik Light, the one-dose version.

He also said he took an experimental nasal version of Sputnik V days after receiving his booster shot, adding that he was feeling fine and felt no side effects.

The Gamaleya Institute that developed Sputnik V has said the vaccine should be efficient against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, but announced that it will immediately start working on adapting it to counter the new heavily-mutated strain.