--- title: Ebola: Vladimir Putin Says Russia Has Developed a Vaccine description: International experts have greeted Putin's claim with considerable skepticism, with one researcher calling it "nonsensical." canonical: https://time.com/4180128/ebola-vaccine-russia-vladimir-putin/ author: Mark Rivett-Carnac article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-14T06:11:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:06:50.336Z article:section: Health og:title: Vladimir Putin Claims Russia Has an Ebola Vaccine og:description: Global experts have reacted with considerable skepticism og:url: https://time.com/4180128/ebola-vaccine-russia-vladimir-putin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42a8051d25789c0c/6988790dcd1bba7a5a6fef15/gettyimages-504772082.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Russian President Vladimir Putin Meets Ministers Of Russian Govenment og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Vladimir Putin Claims Russia Has an Ebola Vaccine twitter:description: Global experts have reacted with considerable skepticism twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42a8051d25789c0c/6988790dcd1bba7a5a6fef15/gettyimages-504772082.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Vladimir Putin Claims That Russia Has Developed an Ebola Vaccine by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Jan 14, 2016 6:11 AM UTC  Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a weekly meeting outside of Moscow, Russia, Jan.13, 2016 Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a weekly meeting outside of Moscow, Russia, Jan.13, 2016Mikhail Svetlov—Getty Images by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Jan 14, 2016 6:11 AM UTC Russia’s President Vladimir Putin [announced](http://ria.ru/society/20160113/1359165084.html) on Wednesday that his country has developed a vaccine for the deadly Ebola virus. After a series of tests, the drug was shown to be “more effective and stronger” than drugs currently used worldwide, Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agency RIA Novosti. He did not provide further details about the new medicine. The [World Health Organization](http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/) does not currently recognize any Ebola vaccine or treatment, beyond symptomatic care, but potential drugs are undergoing evaluation. Experts have also greeted Putin’s claim [with considerable skepticism](http://abcnews.go.com/International/president-vladimir-putin-claims-russia-invented-worlds-effective/story?id=36266302), with one researcher calling it “nonsensical.” A two-year Ebola crisis in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people sparked a new rush to find a cure. The region is due to be declared [Ebola-free](http://time.com/4179412/ebola-outbreak-over/) on Thursday. \[[_RIA Novosti_](http://ria.ru/society/20160113/1359165084.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4180128/ebola-vaccine-russia-vladimir-putin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4180128/ebola-vaccine-russia-vladimir-putin/"},"headline":"Vladimir Putin Claims That Russia Has Developed an Ebola Vaccine","datePublished":"2016-01-14T06:11:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:06:50.336Z","description":"Global experts have reacted with considerable skepticism","url":"https://time.com/4180128/ebola-vaccine-russia-vladimir-putin/","keywords":["ebola","russia","Vladimir Putin","health","vaccine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42a8051d25789c0c/6988790dcd1bba7a5a6fef15/gettyimages-504772082.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42a8051d25789c0c/6988790dcd1bba7a5a6fef15/gettyimages-504772082.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Russian President Vladimir Putin Meets Ministers Of Russian Govenment","caption":"Russian President Vladimir Putin Meets Ministers Of Russian Govenment","creditText":"Mikhail Svetlov—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4180128/ebola-vaccine-russia-vladimir-putin/","name":"Vladimir Putin Claims That Russia Has Developed an Ebola Vaccine"}}]}] ```