Serbia to receive additional 2 million doses of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Serbia on Wednesday signed an agreement to supply 2 million doses of Sputnik V to the country.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Serbia on Wednesday signed an agreement to supply 2 million doses of Sputnik V to the country. According to an official statement, "The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) and the Government of Serbia announce the agreement to supply 2 million doses of Sputnik V, the world's first registered vaccine against coronavirus, to the country."

Meanwhile, the vaccination against coronavirus with Sputnik V has started in Serbia on Wednesday. "The first batch of the vaccine was delivered to Serbia on December 30. The use of Sputnik V vaccine in Serbia was authorized without conducting additional local clinical trials," read the statement.

It further said, "The agreement between RDIF and the Government of Serbia will enable the vaccination of 1 million people. The supplies will help Serbia secure a diversified portfolio of vaccines against coronavirus. Deliveries will be facilitated by RDIF's international partners in India, China, South Korea and other countries." "Serbia is a long-standing partner of Russia and we support the decision of the Government of the country to use Sputnik V as an efficient tool in the fight against coronavirus. The vaccine is based on a well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors with a proven safety track record. As Serbia has already launched vaccination against the novel coronavirus infection the agreement is aimed at ensuring a diversified vaccine portfolio for the country providing additional options to speed up vaccination and protect the population as soon as possible," said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the RDIF.

Sputnik V, the world's first COVID-19 vaccine, is 91.4 per cent effective according to the results of the third and final control point analysis of data of Phase III clinical trials in Russia obtained 21 days after administering the first dose to volunteers, the official statement noted. Meanwhile, the world COVID-19 caseload has crossed 86 million cases, as per the latest updates by Johns Hopkins University. (ANI)