Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that he intends to be vaccinated against KOVID-19 tomorrow, world agencies reported. However, Putin added that every Russian has the right to decide for himself whether to be vaccinated.
The Russian leader did not specify which of the three Russian-made vaccines will be immunized.
Speaking at a televised conference on Russian covid vaccines, he also said Russia had signed international contracts to supply the Sputnik V vaccine to 700 million people. Putin added that it was vital to speed up the production of vaccines for domestic use, where 4.3 million people have received both doses of the covid vaccine so far.
“It is surprising that just before our meeting, as I was told, just a moment ago, one of the people in charge European Commission officials said: “We do not need ‘Sputnik V’. Strange statement, we do not impose anything on anyone, “the president told participants in the meeting.
According to him, when such statements are made by officials, “the question arises as to whose interests these people protect and represent: the interests of some pharmaceutical companies or the interests of European citizens.”
Putin’s remarks came in response to an interview with EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Bretonza on the French channel TF1. Breton is leading the EC working group to increase vaccine production capacity in the European Union. According to Breton, immunization in the EU could be completed by mid-July with vaccines produced in Europe.
In response, Russian vaccine manufacturers accused him of being “biased.”
“Dear Commissioner Breton, Europeans want a choice of safe and effective vaccines that you have so far failed to deliver,” the Russian Direct Investment Fund wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, he announced that the island of Mauritius is already the 55th country to approve the use of the Sputnik V vaccine. The fund said the registration of the drug in Mauritius was part of an accelerated procedure. “With this, the Sputnik V vaccine has already been approved in countries with a total population of over 1.4 billion people,” the fund said in a statement.
Satellite V does not have a marketing authorization from the European Medicines Agency, but it is being used in some Member States, while others are considering an emergency authorization.
Earlier this month, the European Medicines Agency launched a procedure for market approval of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.
Last week, however, an EC spokesman said no talks had been held so far between the EU and Russian vaccine maker Sputnik V against the coronavirus. However, he clarified that the EC and EU countries can at any time decide to expand the list of vaccines included in the European immunization strategy. He made these clarifications regarding the statements of the Russian Fund for Direct Investments and the list of vaccines that the EC negotiates and prepaid with budget funds.
Expectations for the manufacturers of EU-approved drugs (which do not include the Russian vaccine) turned out to be very optimistic, we recognize it and take appropriate measures, said the spokesman on the shortage of vaccines. He added that the commission was surprised by the inability of producers to organize their work so as to fulfill the contracts.
The single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine will be released in April or May
Russia’s pharmaceutical company R-Pharm has said it will begin production of a single-dose coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik Light, “in the near future.”
The company’s executive director, Alexei Repik, said the vaccine should be delivered to the public in April or May.
He expressed confidence that the new production facilities, which will also produce the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine, will address the availability of vaccines both in Russia and in many foreign markets.
The beginning of the clinical trials of the new single-dose vaccine “Sputnik Light” started on February 27 in Moscow, reminds TASS.
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