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“As for how to [šis process] is driven, so [“Sputnik V”] it is more a means of propaganda and aggressive diplomacy than a means of solidarity and health aid, “French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Ledriane told France Info radio.
Russia and China is using its vaccines to make an impact abroad “before vaccinating its people,” the minister said.
Russia has announced “with great media attention” that it will supply 30,000 doses of the vaccine to Tunisia. However, under the UN-backed Covax program, 100,000 doses of vaccines from other manufacturers have already been delivered to Tunisia, and another 400,000 will be delivered by May, the minister said.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) launched an accelerated evaluation of Sputnik V this month, taking an important step towards the possible approval of the first non-Western vaccine in the European Union (EU). Hungary has already approved Sputnik V and started using the vaccine. The Czech Republic and Slovakia have also ordered doses of Sputnik V and state that they will not wait for EU approval.
The mayor of Nice, France, and right-wing Republican politician Christian Estrozi this month called on national health authorities to allow him to import Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, noting that regional authorities have dealt well with the crisis in the past.
A Swiss and Italian pharmaceutical company said this month that production of the Sputnik V at its plant in Italy will begin in July. Russia’s pharmaceutical company R-Pharm said this week that production could start in Germany in the summer.
Sputnik V was developed by the National Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Russia. The vaccine was initially viewed with skepticism abroad, as it was approved by Russia before extensive clinical trials were completed. However, a study published in the medical journal The Lancet in February shows that the vaccine developed in Russia is 91.6% effective.
Sputnik V is approved in more than 50 countries and is distributed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
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