It's not like Russia embarked on a massive project of vaccinating 150 million people in November. The manufacturing capacity was not yet there. The vaccine un

It's not like Russia embarked on a massive project of vaccinating 150 million people in November. The manufacturing capacity was not yet there. The vaccine underwent Phase I and II safety trials, and was thought to be safe. Russia than began directing the limited quantities being manufactured towards at-risk health care workers, while they ran efficacy trials. There's nothing magical, or ordained by God that says we must run an efficacy trial with 30,000 individuals. By early January, Russia had only administered a couple hundred thousand doses. In retrospect, it's highly likely this would have been the correct approach in all vaccines so far in use. In the middle of a pandemic, there's a very strong argument that should be vaccinating as quickly as possible after Phase II trials are complete, before waiting for a long-running efficacy trial. As you said, efficacy trials are not testing for safety. There's already a huge risk to individuals and to society from the virus itself.