In July, the country did not receive 5.5 million doses of the first component of Sputnik V and 13.1 million doses of the second component. The adviser to the President of Argentina said that the contract may be terminated, and vaccines will be purchased in the United States
In Argentina, there is a critical situation with vaccination against coronavirus due to delays in the delivery of the second dose of the Russian vaccine “Sputnik V”, according to a letter from the adviser to the President of the country Cecilia Niccolini to the first deputy Director General of the RDIF Anatoly Braverman, the newspaper La Nation reports.
The publication, referring to the text of the letter, claims that for the vaccination of elderly Argentines, the authorities expected at least 1 million doses of the second component of the vaccine to be delivered on July 10 or 11. However, the batch came only on July 13 and in the amount of 550 thousand doses.
According to Niccolini, the contract with the RDIF is on the verge of termination, because Argentina did not receive 5.5 million doses of the first component of the V Satellite in July and 13.1 million of the second.
“At the moment, the entire contract is under threat of termination. We understand the existence of a shortage and production difficulties that arose a few months ago. But now, seven months later, we are still far behind the delivery schedule. By the same time, we are starting to receive vaccines from other suppliers on a regular basis in compliance with the schedules, ” writes the presidential adviser.
Niccolini also said that recently the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, signed a decree allowing the purchase of drugs for coronavirus from American companies. Manufacturers from the United States promise deliveries this year and have the advantage of the V-Satellite in the form of vaccines for children. La Nacion reports that we are talking about Pfizer drugs.
In addition, the presidential adviser draws the attention of the deputy director of the RDIF to the fact that Russian vaccine developers are delaying the conclusion on drugs produced at the local Richmond laboratory, which has signed a contract with the foundation for the production of the V Satellite. Niccolini noted that the laboratory sent the first doses of the produced vaccine on June 16, and the Russian developers promised to give a conclusion within 10 & ndash;15 days. “The doses have been in Russia for more than three weeks.We hope you will pay special attention to this, ” the adviser writes, adding that such delays disappoint the Argentine leadership.
Niccolini said in a letter that the Argentine authorities are doing everything possible to ensure the success of the Russian vaccine, but the RDIF “leaves them little chance to continue fighting for this project”. As an example of such support, the presidential adviser calls the upcoming publication in a medical journal, where the results of a study of the effectiveness of the V Satellite six months after vaccination and its ability to counteract new strains of the coronavirus are presented.
Niccolini later explained to Radio Con Vos (TASS drew attention to the speech, an incomplete text transcript of the conversation is shown on the radio station’s website) that her letter should not be perceived as a threat. The Argentine authorities are in constant, almost daily contact with Moscow on the situation with the vaccine, she noted, saying that relations between the countries are now at a very good level, despite difficulties with supplies.
RBC sent a request to the RDIF.
Local publications reported on delays in the delivery of the second component of the V Satellite to Argentina in June. By the middle of last month, the country received almost 7.9 million doses of the first component and a little more than 1.5 million of the second. Due to the lack of the latter, the period between the introduction of the first and second injections had to be increased to 12 weeks.
As La Nacion wrote, the Argentine authorities are “conducting intensive negotiations”with the RDIF to achieve the shipment of a batch of vaccine. A source of the newspaper said at the time that there were no special reasons for concern, since the drug showed good effectiveness, preventing the severe course of COVID-19 and fatal outcomes in almost 80% of cases.
Presidential press Secretary Dmitry Peskov previously stated that the obligations to provide the vaccine will be fulfilled gradually, since the priority is vaccination of its own population.
On July 7, the journal Nature published an article in which it reported on the effectiveness of using the V Satellite outside of Russia. On the same day, the Ministry of Health of Argentina presented the interim results of a study of the effectiveness of the drug. It followed from them that after vaccination, side effects were recorded only in 0.55% of cases, and hospitalization was required for 0.0027% of those vaccinated.
After that, the RDIF said that the data of the Argentine authorities confirm the safety of the Russian vaccine, adding that the V Satellite has shown high efficiency in Hungary, Mexico, Serbia, San Marino, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and other countries.
Argentina allowed the use of the V Satellite in December last year, becoming the second foreign state, after Belarus, to approve its use. To date, almost 4.8 million people have fallen ill in the country, more than 102 thousand have died.
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