Russia has offered "unprecedented cooperation" to the United States to accelerate its access to effective Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, but U.S. officials had declined the offer, according to CNN.

U.S. rebuffs Russian vaccine, former official calls it "a joke"

Russian officials told CNN that the U.S. is "currently not open" to Russian medical advances, likely due to a "sense of mistrust" on the American side.

"We believe that technologies -- including vaccine, testing and treatments -- are not being adopted in the U.S. because of that mistrust," a senior Russian official said.

Several American officials who spoke to CNN perceived the Russian vaccine to be too "half-baked" for the country to consider it seriously.

"There's no way in hell the U.S. tries this (Russian vaccine) on monkeys, let alone people," one U.S. government public health official said.

"There have been no trials of this vaccine. They've done too little work on humans to decide if it works on a larger scale. We're talking totally inadequate safety data," an unnamed U.S. government advisor told CNN.

A former U.S. government official even called the Russian vaccine "a joke", and added that Russia did not complete the three phases of testing.

Why are trials important?

These trials, which require a certain proportion of participants to catch the virus in order to observe the vaccine's effect, are considered necessary steps to take before a vaccine can receive regulatory approval, according to Reuters.

The Moscow-based Association of Clinical Trials Organisations (ACTO), a trade body representing the world’s leading drugmakers, has urged the Russian health ministry to wait till the successful completion of final trials before approving the vaccine.

It also warned of the risks involved should a drug be approved prematurely.

Russian "Sputnik V" vaccine -- First in the world?

On Aug. 11, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced that the country has become the first in the world to register a vaccine for Covid-19, named Sputnik V, in homage to the world's first satellite launched by the Soviet Union.

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

Russia began Phase III trials last week. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), at least four vaccines are currently in Phase III.

While U.S. officials have rebuffed Russia's offer to help, Russian officials continue to urge Washington to consider adopting the vaccine.

"If our vaccine proves to be one of the most effective, questions will be asked why the U.S. did not explore this option any deeper, why politics got in way of access to a vaccine," a Russian official told CNN.

Duterte looking to start clinical trials for Russian vaccine in Oct. 2020

Russia added that a number of countries have expressed interest in the vaccine, in particular the Philippines.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is already looking to start clinical trials in the country as early as October 2020, according to DW.

Duterte even offered himself as a guinea pig for the trial in a televised speech to allay public fear.

"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," Duterte said.

Vietnam has also ordered millions of doses of the vaccine, despite the lack of Phase 3 testing.

Top image via Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images, the Kremlin