Philippines to Receive First Batch of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine in April, RDIF Announces

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Philippines will receive the first batch of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in April, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev said in an interview with CNN Philippines broadcaster.

The delivery may be expected in the first half of the month, the RDIF head assured.

Earlier on Friday, the Philippines became the 52nd country to authorize Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. The vaccine was registered under the emergency use authorisation procedure.

In February, the peer-reviewed medical journal, The Lancet, published an interim analysis from the Phase III clinical trials of the Russian vaccine, showing its 91.6-percent efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19.

Developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Sputnik V was the world's first officially-registered vaccine against COVID-19.