President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia is the first country in the world to register a vaccine for Covid-19, Bloomberg reported.

The announcement was made on August 11, at a televised government meeting with Putin stating,"As far as I know, this morning the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection in the world was registered this morning."

According to Reuters, the vaccine's receipt of regulatory approval by the Russian Health Ministry heralds the start of a larger trial involving thousands of human participants, known as the Phase III trial.

According to Bloomberg, Russia began Phase III trials last week.

But the Russian vaccine is not the only one in Phase III — data by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has indicated that at least four vaccines are currently in Phase III, according to Reuters.

There are more than 100 vaccines being developed around the world, at varying levels of progress.

Putin: One of my daughters tested the vaccine on herself

In emphasising the safety of the vaccine, Putin stated that one of his daughters had since tested the vaccine on herself and was well, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Putin added that the vaccine came in two shots, with his daughter running a 38°C fever initially after the first shot, and a fever slightly above 37°C the following day.

Subsequently, "after the second shot, she had a slight fever again, and then everything was fine, she is feeling well and has a high [antibody] count," Putin stated.

He also highlighted that there were people who had not displayed any symptoms "at all" after receiving the vaccine.

Reuters further quoted Putin as stressing, "I know that it works quite effectively, forms strong immunity, and I repeat, it has passed all the needed checks."

Philippines' President offers himself as a test subject for the vaccine

But Putin's daughter does not appear to be the only public test subject for the vaccine.

Separately, German media Deutesche Welle reported that the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, also offered himself as a test subject for Russia's vaccine, accepting an offer by Putin to make it available to the Filipino public.

On Aug.10, Duterte stated,"When the vaccine arrives, I will inject it publicly. Experiment with me, that's fine. If it works on me, it will work on everyone."

Meanwhile, a statement by the Philippines government stated,"The Philippines stands ready to work with Russia on clinical trials, vaccine supply and production, and other areas deemed practicable by relevant Philippine and Russian agencies to address this global health emergency."

Duterte has also suggested that the Filipino public could participate in clinical trials although details on the laboratory behind the trials, and the agreement with Putin have not been released.

Covid-19 vaccine to enter public circulation on Jan. 1, 2021

Separately, TASS reported in another article that the vaccine will enter public circulation on Jan. 1, 2021, according to the website of the State Register of Pharmaceuticals.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Tatyana Golikova, also raised the possibility that medics could begin receiving the vaccine by the end of August, Bloomberg highlighted.

Thus far, Russia has registered nearly 900,000 cases of Covid-19 and over 15,000 deaths.

Top photo via the Kremlin