Russia is conducting Phase Three trials with the Sputnik V vaccine on at least 2,000 people and is preparing a large-scale test of 40,000 people.

"A clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness, immunity and safety of the Sputnik V vaccine will begin in Russia next week, with the participation of 40,000 volunteers from different risk groups.

The RDIF representative added that Phase Three trials were conducted on 2,000 people in Russia since August 12, a day after the Sputnik V vaccine was licensed by the Russian Ministry of Health.

Sputnik V, developed by the Gameleya Institute, is the first vaccine in the world to be approved and put into production by the government, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic that has prompted many countries to mobilize unprecedented research funding and efforts.

Russia, the US and China are leading countries in the "race" to produce the first Covid-19 vaccine.

However, many Western countries claim that Russia has "burned the phase" of vaccine development and licensed Sputnik V before conducting Phase Three trials on thousands of people.

Clinical trials, or Phase Three trials, are an important large-scale testing step.

In the face of Western countries' accusations, Russian officials, including Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, confirmed that the vaccine suspicions were unfounded.

"We have seen a number of countries waging information warfare against Russia, but most of them want to learn how this vaccine works. We don't want to politicize the vaccine, the more there is."

Russian officials say about 20 countries have expressed concern about their Covid-19 vaccine, and Moscow has received orders to make about one billion doses of the vaccine.

However, Aleksander Gintsburg, director of the Gameleya Institute, noted that the Sputnik V vaccine will not be widely circulated before January 2021 as it will take 4-5 months for additional monitoring of efficacy and possible side effects.