After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday last that it had been first in the world to come up with a full-fledged approved vaccine, Russia on Saturday informed that it has produced the first batch of its coronavirus vaccine called Sputnik V.

Putin's announcement on Tuesday about the vaccine was met with caution from scientists and the World Health Organization who said it still needed a rigorous safety review.

"The first batch of the novel coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute has been produced," the health ministry said on Saturday.

The development came even as the total number of Covid-19 cases crossed the 21 million mark globally. The disease has claimed more than 766,000 lives so far.

With more than 915,000 infections, Russia's caseload is fourth in the world after the United States, Brazil, and India.