(By Ernesto Cooke) – On Friday 12th February, 2021, The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) announced the approval of Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In total, 26 countries have already authorized Sputnik V.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is the first island nation of the Caribbean to register Sputnik V.
The vaccine was approved in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines under the emergency use authorization procedure without additional local clinical trials.
Sputnik V is one of the world’s top three coronavirus vaccines in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators.
The vaccine had been approved earlier in 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 and Montenegro.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said:
“By the end of the week Sputnik V has been approved in 26 countries in Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, Asia and North America exceeding the plan announced by RDIF earlier. Clinical trial data published in The Lancet medical journal demonstrated high efficacy and safety of the vaccine, which is also easy to distribute and affordable in price.
Sputnik V is recognized globally as one of the key vaccines which will help protect the humankind and return to normal life.”
Sputnik V has a number of key advantages:
Efficacy of Sputnik V 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.
Sputnik V 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.
There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.
The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2+8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.
The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world.
