First batch of Sputnik V vaccine delivered to Mexico

Moscow: The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) has announced the delivery of the first batch of Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus to Mexico.

On February 3, 2021, the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk of Mexico (COFEPRIS) approved Sputnik V under the emergency use authorization procedure without additional clinical trials in the country. Mexico has become the first country of North America to approve Sputnik V.

Sputnik V is approved for use in more than 30 countries making the vaccine one of the world’s top three coronavirus vaccines in terms of the number of approvals issued by regulatory authorities.

Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Republika Srpska (entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Gabon, San Marino and Ghana have authorized Sputnik V.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, commented: “RDIF supports the efforts of the Government of Mexico to protect the population with a safe and effective Russian Sputnik V vaccine. Cooperation between Russia and Mexico on the vaccine is a great example of pooling efforts to jointly fight the pandemic and save lives. The positive decision of COFEPRIS to grant an emergency use authorization to Sputnik V provides people of Mexico with access to one of the best vaccines in the world.”

Among the key advantages claimed by Sputnik V developers are that its efficacy is 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in the Lancet, one of the world’s oldest and most respected medical journals. It is one of only three vaccines in the world with efficacy of over 90%; Sputnik V provides full protection against severe cases of COVID-19.

The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years. Vaccine uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots. The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades.

The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are working collaboratively with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine. Another claim is that there are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.

One of the important points is that the price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world.