The US remains the most affected nation amid the pandemic, with over 33 million infected and 596,000 deaths from the virus. India, which has been registering a dramatic spike in infections since last month, is second with a total of 28.5 million COVID-19 cases and over 340,000 deaths. Meanwhile, Brazil has confirmed more than 16.8 million cases and the second-highest death toll in the world of around 469,000.
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Brazilian health regulator ANVISA on Friday approved shipments of Sputnik V, the Russian vaccine against the coronavirus, in a 4-1 vote. Its import and use would have a number of restrictions.
"From our point of view, if imports and use of the vaccine are authorized, we must ensure control of conditions under which it is used," ANVISA general manager of medicines and biological products, Gustavo Mendes Lima Santos, said earlier during a meeting on Sputnik V, streaming live on YouTube.
The regulator stressed that the country would allow only those drugs that were produced in Russian facilities and had been inspected by ANVISA.
Alongside the Russian jab, the Brazilian regulator also approved India's Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine.
According to Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, “Sputnik V will arrive in Brazil in July.”
#SputnikV will be used in Brazil following ANVISA’s approval. Brazil has become the 67th country in the world to authorize Sputnik V. The Sputnik V team fully answered all questions from ANVISA on the vaccine’s efficacy & safety 🇧🇷
— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) June 5, 2021
👇https://t.co/JnsNHFRT7V
ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - Russia may acquire herd immunity to the coronavirus by fall, the CEO of Russian biotech company Biocad, a manufacturer of the Sputnik V vaccine, said on Friday.
"The coronavirus is with us, it has not gone anywhere, and the goal is to achieve herd immunity. We understand that the required level of herd immunity can be achieved approximately by late summer or early fall," Dmitry Morozov told Sputnik on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
If this happens, the demand for COVID-19 vaccines in Russia will begin to decline, the executive projected.
As of Friday, Russia has recorded over 5 million cumulative COVID-19 cases, including 4.7 million recoveries and some 123,000 deaths.
This year's edition of SPIEF is taking place in-person from Wednesday through Saturday. Rossiya Segodnya is an official media partner of the country's major economic forum.
ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Argentine counterpart, Alberto Fernandez, launched the production of Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V in Argentina via a video link.
The ceremony was conducted on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Minutes earlier, production was launched in Serbia.
Earlier, Argentine Health Minister Carla Vizzotti said that the Gamaleya Institute had confirmed the quality of the first batches of Russian vaccine Sputnik V produced in Argentina.
In April, RDIF announced that Argentina was the first Latin American country to start production of Sputnik V, and in the future, the vaccine could be exported to countries in Central and Latin America. It was noted that RDIF and partners had carried out a technology transfer for Laboratorios Richmond, the first batch produced was delivered to the Gamaleya Institute for drug quality control.
Argentina plans to produce 4-5 million doses of Russian vaccine Sputnik V per month and expects to increase production to 500 million doses per year in the future.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Experts at the Brazilian national sanitary inspection agency Anvisa recommended that the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, if approved, be used only to vaccinate healthy adults, media reported on Friday.
According to Reuters, Anvisa's experts have recommended that the vaccine. if approved, "only be used on healthy adults."
Earlier it was reported that Anvisa would again consider the issue of import and emergency use of the Sputnik V vaccine on June 4, after refusing permission twice this year, citing lack of information.
BELGRADE (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, launched on Friday the production of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Serbia.
The first phase of the production of the Russian vaccine against coronavirus, packaging, at the Torlak Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Serums in Belgrade began on Friday evening with the participation of the two leaders via video link.
"It is a great honor for me to launch production of the Sputnik V vaccine in Serbia," Vucic said in Russian.
Director of the Torlak Institute, Dr. Vera Stoiljkovic, noted that Serbia was one of the first countries to use the Sputnik V vaccine and the first country in Europe to produce it, after which she pressed a button.
Earlier, Vucic expressed gratitude to Russia and its leadership for the possibility of producing a drug for immunization in the republic, which, according to him, will serve not only Serbia, but also the countries of the region.
ST.PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - Russian pharmaceutical company Geropharm on Friday inked an agreement on EpiVacCorona vaccine against COVID-19 supplies to Venezuela at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), a Sputnik correspondent who attended the signing ceremony said.
Geropharm director Pyotr Rodionov and Venezuelan Health Minister Carlos Alvarado signed the agreement, while Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov attended the event.
"The volume of supplies may reach 5 million sets [10 million doses] by the end of the year. Shipments are planned to begin in September", the company said.
"The situation where people's health is determined by rules of market and world trade is unacceptable", Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
He stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic showed that no country can fight epidemics on its own. The research into ways to combat the pandemic and address its effects in the future should become a priority for global investors in the future, the monarch continued.
"The world community must ensure that vaccines and treatment are available to all, especially to poor and indigent peoples, as well as countries that are suffering from wars and instability", Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani noted.
"Vaccine 'cocktails' is a very popular topic. A month ago, everyone started talking about what we said earlier: that vaccine cocktails underlie effectiveness and fight against mutations ... We are already holding trials with AstraZeneca, but we have also received many requests from other vaccines, including major Chinese producers. Perhaps, the first trials of Sputnik V combined with Chinese vaccines will be held in Arab countries", Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
