Russian COVID-19 vaccine developers ready to make Sputnik V available for people worldwide
The Russian Health Ministry said on Wednesday that the developers of the anti-coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V are ready to make it available for people all over the world. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which funded the development of Sputnik V, also announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement eith Mexican Landsteiner Scientific pharmaceutical company on delivering 32 million vaccines to Mexico, Sputniknews reported.
The deliveries are expected to start in November, RDIF said.
"RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, and Landsteiner Scientific pharmaceutical company have announced an agreement for the supply of 32 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to Mexico (25% of population). Deliveries are expected to start in November 2020 subject to approval by Mexico’s regulators," it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, The third round of trials for the AstraZeneca anti-COVID-19 drug is now on pause over “potentially unexplained illness” in a participant in the UK.
The vaccine in question was developed in partnership with Oxford University and has reportedly involved around 30,000 participants in the UK, US, Brazil and South Africa. AstraZeneca described the pause as "routine" one to allow for a “standard review process” of “safety data”.
On Sputnik V's safetry, RDIF said, "The safety of the human adenoviral vector used in Sputnik V has been proven over decades in over 250 clinical studies, as human adenovirus has been shown to be the safest vaccine delivery mechanism and the most ‘organic for humans’, as human adenovirus has coexisted with humans for over 100,000 years."
