Kata "V" di belakang Sputnik bermakna Victory, maksudnya "kemenangan melawan Covid-19", menurut Kirill Dmitriev, Direktur Utama Dana Investasi Langsung Rusia.[4][5]
Gam-Covid-Vac awalnya didistribusikan secara nasional di Rusia, kemudian 59 negara lain (per April 2021) sebagai hasil awal uji klinis vaksin Fase I–II yang akhirnya dipublikasi 4 September 2020.[6] Persetujuan Gam-Covid-Vac pada Agustus sempat dikritik media massa dan diskusi masyarakat ilmiah karena kurangnya penelitian ilmiah berkaitan dengan keamanan dan efikasinya.[2][3][7][8][9]
Distribusi massal darurat vaksin ini dimulai pada Desember 2020 di negara seperti Rusia, Argentina, Byelorusia, Hungaria, Serbia, Pakistan (dalam jumlah terbatas), Filipina (dalam jumlah terbatas), dan UEA. Per Februari 2021 lebih dari 1 miliar dosis sudah dipesan untuk didistribusikan ke seluruh dunia.[10]
^ abCallaway E (August 2020). "Russia's fast-track coronavirus vaccine draws outrage over safety". Nature. 584 (7821): 334–335. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-02386-2. PMID32782400. This is a reckless and foolish decision. Mass vaccination with an improperly tested vaccine is unethical. Any problem with the Russian vaccination campaign would be disastrous, both through its negative effects on health, but also because it would further set back the acceptance of vaccines in the population.
^Mahase E (August 2020). "Covid-19: Russia approves vaccine without large scale testing or published results". BMJ. 370: m3205. doi:10.1136/bmj.m3205. PMID32816758.
Nomor uji klinis NCT04437875 for "An Open Study of the Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of "Gam-COVID-Vac Lyo" Vaccine Against COVID-19" di ClinicalTrials.gov
Nomor uji klinis NCT04436471 for "An Open Study of the Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of the Drug "Gam-COVID-Vac" Vaccine Against COVID-19" di ClinicalTrials.gov