RDIF Hails EU's Decision to Open Borders for Sputnik V Vaccinated Visitors From Argentina

Argentina was the first Latin American country both to approve the use of the Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus and to localise production.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has hailed a European Council recommendation to EU countries to lift travel restrictions imposed on Argentina, the only manufacturer of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in South America.

In a 29 October press release, Russia's sovereign wealth fund, which is responsible for marketing Sputnik V overseas, called the Council's suggestion a testimony to the success of the vaccination campaign in Argentina.

A shipment of doses of the Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

© REUTERS / AGUSTIN MARCARIAN

The Argentine Ministry of Health has previously published a study, which showed that Sputnik V offered a greater immune protection than other vaccines used in the country. A different study conducted by the National University of Córdoba demonstrated that the Russian-made vaccine was more effective against the Delta strain of coronavirus than AstraZeneca and Sinopharm jabs.

RDIF, for its part, has emphasised that Argentina has witnessed a thirtyfold decrease in the daily COVID-19 caseload over the past five months thanks to a successful vaccination campaign.

Argentina, where adenovirus vector-based vaccines such as Sputnik V were used, saw a 30x drop in new infections during one of the most successful vaccination campaign in the world. Today EU added Argentina to COVID-safe countries travel list. pic.twitter.com/TKGQzfsJqY

— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) October 29, 2021

"Sputnik V has played a decisive role in protecting the population of Argentina and helping the country to stay among the leaders in the fight against coronavirus", the wealth fund said in the press release.

Aside from Argentina, the European Council has advised to remove travel restrictions for Chile, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Jordan. All these countries have approved Sputnik V for use.

Argentina was the first Latin American country to authorise the Russian vaccine for use. Later, it announced plans to produce 4-5 million doses of Sputnik V monthly and expects to ramp up yearly production to 500 million doses.

Sputnik V, the world's first vaccine against the coronavirus, has been approved in 70 countries so far. Since early March, Sputnik V has been under review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).