The president of the Russian Society of Evidence-based Medicine, Dr. Vasily Vlasov, said he had no plans to use the vaccine, nor would he recommend it to his friends or family. He sounded frustrated, explaining that there was no way to examine any of the findings from the first two stages of the trials. “They announced the vaccine was ready; but the creators still have not published the actual results of their research,” he said. “Everything is based on some unclear protocols and the longer they delay publishing, the more doubts people will have.”…

The number of Sputnik volunteers remains unclear. Some sources suggest that just 76 people took part in trials, others said hundreds had been given the vaccine—some of them unofficially—before formal registration. Russian epidemiologists have been forced to rely on rumors: “Since the second phase was conducted by the Defense Ministry, everything’s kept as a big secret,” said Mikhail Favorov, an epidemiologist, who is worried about potential side effects. “Once the vaccine’s been administered, there is nothing to be done—that’s what is awful.”

“This vaccine is made of politics,” said Alexander Nevzorov, a well-known radio observer. “This is a pharmacological record. Thirty eight people tried it, while the entire world says that 5,000 is not enough—this is both a record and a record of absolute impudence [arrogance?].”