The Wednesday issue of the French Le Liberation media outlet featured a cover depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin dressed as fictional agent James Bond holding a syringe with a COVID-19 vaccine, a day after Russia said it had registered the world's first
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th August, 2020) The Wednesday issue of the French Le Liberation media outlet featured a cover depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin dressed as fictional agent James bond holding a syringe with a COVID-19 vaccine, a day after Russia said it had registered the world's first.
On Tuesday, Putin announced that Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease has been registered. The president added the vaccine was safe and said one of his daughters had already been vaccinated. However, the health authorities of several European countries, as well as US health experts, expressed doubts over the efficiency of the vaccine, while Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said their skepticism was unfounded.
The cover of Le Liberation displays the Russian president holding a vaccine syringe in his hand instead of a gun. It also has an inscription of "Tomorrow never dies," a reference to one of the Bond movies.
The authors of the edition also claimed on the cover that while Putin "sought to catch the world off guard" by the registration of the Sputnik V vaccine, it has not yet passed the final tests to be implemented further.
While health companies and governments around the world participate in a race to create an effective vaccine against the COVID-19 virus, the disease started to recirculate more actively in some parts of the world, including Europe, after many countries lifted their coronavirus-related lockdowns.
Russia's vaccine was developed jointly by the Gamaleya research institute and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The official registration it has received is conditional on holding further tests involving 2,000 people. Russia has provided information on its vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO) and hopes the UN health body will include the vaccine in its list. WHO said it maintained communications on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine with Moscow.
