The elected deputy to the National Assembly, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, has been one of the first Venezuelans to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with a dose of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V. With his participation in the third phase of clinical trials, the son of The president wanted to “tell the world” that Venezuela “trusts Russia.”
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Nicolás Maduro Guerra received the vaccine along with hundreds of volunteers from his country. According to the deputy, Russia has proven to be “bulwark” of medicine. In the meantime, some other countries, which have also been developing their vaccines, “concentrate on promoting wars, intervening, sanctioning, trying to do harm.”
The deputy assured that he and the Venezuelan youth feel a “deep respect” for the Eurasian country and the generosity that it has shown towards the people of your country. As stated in a conversation with the Russian media, the son of the current president Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela “trusts Russia” in its medicine and science.
“Russia is at the forefront of humanity (…) it is focused on seeking a cure for the world’s diseases. Russia is focused on bringing health to humanity. That is why we subtract ourselves [apoyamos a] with Russia, we stand behind its government, with its people who have been very generous with the Venezuelan people: we repay them with respect (…) in me and in the Venezuelan youth Russia has an ally to continue building relations, to continue deepening it and this is nothing more than a sign of the deep affection, the deep respect that we have for the Russian Federation, “he emphasized.
For his part, the Russian ambassador in Caracas, Sergei Melik Bagdasarov, praised participation by Maduro Guerra.
“Very proud to be present at the moment when the newly elected national deputy Nicolás Maduro Guerra participated in the third phase of the clinical trials of the first registered vaccine in the world against COVID-19, Sputnik V,” the diplomat wrote in his Twitter account.
In about 20 days Nicolás Maduro Guerra and other volunteers will have to inject the second dose of the vaccine, as prescribed in their conditions of use. Since then, all participants in this phase of clinical trials will be observed for six months by local doctors, who will maintain direct contact with the vaccine developers at the Gamaleya center.
In mid-October 2020, Venezuela began testing the Russian vaccine against COVID-19, Sputnik V. It also plans to produce it within the country. According to President Nicolás Maduro, vaccination of the population is likely to begin in April 2020.
Phase III clinical trials are currently underway in Russia, with the participation of 40,000 volunteers, as well as in Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and other countries, as are phase II-III trials in India. To date, fifty countries have requested more than 1.2 billion vials from Sputnik. The international partners of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (responsible for the development of the vaccine) in India, Brazil, China, South Korea and other countries will produce the drug for the international market.
The results of the provisional clinical trial of the vaccine show 95% efficient on day 42 after the first dose. In the international market, the price of the vaccine it will be less than $ 10 per dose.
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