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Russian President Vladimir Putin told other heads of state who attended the G20 summit on Saturday that Russia is ready to supply its “Sputnik V” vaccine to other states that need it to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, it reports. Reuters. and DPA, cited by Agerpres. This, although there is still no evidence on the safety and efficacy of this vaccine.
“Sputnik V” along with two other experimental vaccines against the Russian coronavirus will be made available to other states in an effort to stop the global pandemic, according to the Kremlin leader.
Although there will be competition between different producers, the top priority should be the “humanitarian side” and “our common goal is to build a vaccine supply and provide reliable protection to the entire world population,” Putin said at the online summit. .
In another summit, that of the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), held on Tuesday, the Russian president urged the member states of this group to join forces for the production of these vaccines on a large scale.
“Russian vaccines exist, they are effective and safe. The problem that remains is their mass production,” Putin said.
He said that his country had already signed agreements with Brazil and India to carry out clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine, first announced by Russia and developed by the Gamaleia Center. He also spoke of the existence of an agreement with China and India for “the opening of our vaccine production centers in these countries, not only for their own needs, but also for third countries.”
Russia claims that the Sputnik V vaccine, in the third phase of clinical trials, is 92% effective. Moscow has yet to present any scientific documentation on the vaccine, but its designers have promised that the research will soon be published “in one of the world’s leading medical journals” and can be reviewed by other experts.
Other COVID-19 vaccines developed by other Russian laboratories are currently in clinical trials.
Russia submitted a request to the World Health Organization (WHO) in early October for the prequalification and rapid authorization of the Sputnik V vaccine, which is named after the first Soviet satellite put into orbit and which, according to Moscow, has already been administered to various Russian officials. high rank.
The Hungarian government announced on Thursday the arrival of 10 samples of the Sputnik V vaccine to the country to study its possible use, making Hungary the first country in the EU to receive the vaccine.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban has announced that Hungary will buy vaccines against the new coronavirus from non-Western countries, such as Russia or China, if they are available in large quantities sooner, although the European Commission has warned that only products authorized by the European Agency can be used. of Medicines (EMA). in the EU Member States.
Viktor Orban reacted by saying that “it is not a political issue, but a health issue”, adding that “the Hungarian laboratories, which will analyze the vaccines, and the Hungarians themselves” will decide and choose between the different alternatives.
So far, the European Commission has signed contracts on behalf of the EU Member States for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines developed by AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, Pfizer and CureVac.
According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, “the Commission has so far provided at least 1.2 billion doses and is fulfilling its commitment to ensure equitable access to safe, effective and affordable vaccines, not just for Citizens of the EU, but also for the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world ”.
Editing: Monica Bonea
