President Vladimir Putin and other officials have said it is completely safe. The president said one of his daughters had taken it as a volunteer and felt good afterwards. “I know that it works quite effectively, forms strong immunity, and I repeat, it has passed all the necessary checks,” Putin told a government meeting.

Here are 10 updates on Russia’s covid vaccine:

Russian business conglomerate Sistema has already started mass production of the vaccine at AFK Sistema’s Binnopharm pharmaceutical factory, Sputnik News reported, citing Russian authorities.

Russian official say that the covid vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, will be administered t on a voluntary basis at the end of this month or in early September.

Mass roll-out in Russia is expected to start in October.

The vaccine is administered in two doses and consists of two serotypes of a human adenovirus, each carrying an S-antigen of the new corona virus, which enter human cells and produce an immune response.

Russia has said it already received foreign requests for 1 billion doses.

Clinical trials of the Russian vaccine is expected to start soon in the UAE and the Philippines.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he is willing to participate personally in the trial.

Some international experts have also questioned the speed at which Russia approved its vaccine.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn today said Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine had not been sufficiently tested, adding the aim was to have a safe product rather than just being first to start vaccinating people.

More than 100 possible COVID-19 vaccines are being developed around the world. At least four are in final Phase III human trials, according to WHO data.