August 11, 2021 will mark one year since the Sputnik V anti-coronavirus vaccine was registered for use in Russia, becoming the world’s first vaccine against COVID-19 approved by a national government.
TASS prepared a summary of how Sputnik V was approved in countries all over the world.
Sputnik V exports to other countries began in late 2020, when the vaccine was delivered to Belarus. It became the first foreign country to register the vaccine and permit its use on December 21. The vaccination campaign in the country began on December 29, 2020.
Argentina began the third country to start using Sputnik V, after Russia and Belarus. In early November 2020, President Alberto Fernandes said Buenos Aires was ready to sign an agreement about the delivery of 25 million Sputnik V doses with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which supported the vaccine’s development, invested in its mass production and is now promoting it abroad. On December 23, an Argentinean watchdog issued a permission for emergency use of the vaccine. The country began vaccinating its medical workers on December 29, 2020.
In January 2021, the vaccine was registered by Bolivia and Serbia. On January 10, Algeria became the first African country to receive Sputnik V. Palestine became the first such country in the Middle East on January 11. Also, the vaccine was delivered to Venezuela, Paraguay and Turkmenistan later that month.
On January 21, Hungary became the first member of the European Union to approve the use of Sputnik V.
Subsequently, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Gabon joined the list. On February 3, Mexico became the first country in North America to receive Sputnik V.
San Marino became the 30th country to register Sputnik V on February 19, 2021. By May, the number of infections in the country dropped 250 times, and the country was among the first in Europe to start lifting coronavirus-related restrictions. The Russian vaccine was used to inoculate almost 20,000 people in San Marino, or about two thirds of the country’s population. Later, it became known that 99% of people taking part in a joint study developed antibodes protecting them from COVID-19.
By the end of February 2021, Sputnik V was approved by national regulators of Ghana, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Guiana, Egypt, Honduras, Guatemala and Moldova.
Twenty countries joined the list of countries that permitted Sputnik V in March. They are Slovakia, Angola, Djibouti, the Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, Laos, Iraq, Northern Macedonia, Kenya, Morocco, Jordan, Namibia, Azerbaijan, the Philippines, Cameroon, Seychelles, Mauritius, Vietnam, Antigua and Barbuda and Mali.
Six more countries approved the use of the Russian vaccine in April: Panama, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Turkey and Albania. In May, Maldives and Ecuador joined the list, while Brazil did so in June. Also, RDIF and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) signed a deal to deliver 220 million doses of Sputnik V to vaccinate 110 million people.
On July 15, the vaccine was approved by Nigeria, on July 21 – by Chile.
As of August 10, 2021, the vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, is approved for use in 69 states and territories with the total population of 3.7 billion people. It is used to vaccinate people in more than 50 states.
Foreign production
In 2020-2021, RDIF signed a series of agreements with foreign companies to produce Sputnik V abroad – in India, China, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Iran, Italy, South Korea, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Serbia, Turkey, Vietnam and other states.
Industrial production, or at least making of pre-production batches, has already begun in Serbia, Argentina, Iran, Belarus, Mexico, India and Uzbekistan. RDIF is also conducting Phase 3 clinical trials in four countries: Belarus, UAE, India and Venezuela.
Source: TASS
Header: A worker unloads the first shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine from an airplane at the international airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)