Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective
Scientists gave Russia's Sputnik V vaccine the green light on Tuesday saying it was almost 92% effective in fighting COVID-19.
That decision was based on peer-reviewed late-stage trial results published in The Lancet international medical journal.
British experts were among those who looked at the data collated by the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow.
They agreed it meant the world had another effective weapon to fight the deadly pandemic.
Their conclusions appear to justify to some extent Russia's decision to roll out the vaccine before final data had been released.
Moscow approved the vaccine in August, before the large-scale trial had begun, saying it was the first country to do so for a COVID-19 shot.
It named it Sputnik V, in homage to the world's first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union.
Russian media reported the country will be able to vaccinate 700 million people with the Sputnik V coronavirus shot this year.
