A heath worker draws the Sputnik V vaccine from a vial during a post-registration phase trial in Moscow, on Sept. 23.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergPrognosis
How Russia Shortened the Covid Vaccine Race to Declare Victory
Putin’s bold claims for Sputnik V put Russia’s vaccine on the map. Western scientists remain skeptical.
Russia’s version of America’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine project is located far from the Kremlin on a sleepy side street on the outskirts of Moscow.
Tucked in a sandy-brick building with an office advertising medical tests and a dingy wooden door, it doesn’t look like a cutting-edge medical laboratory. But it was here that, if you believe President Vladimir Putin, Russia won the global race to develop a vaccine against Covid-19.