Preparations for Testing Russian Coronavirus Vaccine to Begin in Brazil Next Week

• 08.12.2020, 12:38
•  EEU,  America,  World

TASS

The Parana Institute of Technology (TECPAR) in Brazil will request technical documents for Russia’s coronavirus vaccine next week with an aim to start preparations for its trials, a state official told TASS on Tuesday.

"We believe that after signing a framework agreement tomorrow [on Wednesday], Tecpar will be able to prepare a request for protocols to the Russian authorities next week. After that, we can make a request to the regulator," said Guto Silva, the head of the Civil House of the southern state’s governor.

He said that more details about the timeframe of the framework agreement’s implementation, as well as issues of deliveries, access to relevant Russian technologies and the possibility to produce the vaccine in Brazil will be discussed on Wednesday during an online conference between Parana Governor Ratinho Junior and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) head Kirill Dmitriev.

According to Silva, Tecpar has sufficient research base for holding lab tests of the Russian vaccine, while its ties with the Brazilian Health Ministry’s Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) provide an opportunity for trials at the federal level.

"We are interested in becoming a center for spreading this vaccine. Importantly, the federal government shares our stance," he said.

Brazil media reported on Tuesday that the Parana state government and RDIF were preparing to sign an agreement to test and produce the Russian vaccine. Shortly after, Brazil’s national sanitary watchdog Anvisa said it had not yet received applications for testing and registration of the vaccine.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had registered the world’s first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. According to Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, the vaccine dubbed Sputnik V was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, its clinical trials were successfully completed in June-July. Putin also revealed that one of his daughters received the injection and is feeling well.

According to Kirill Dmitriyev, the director general of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia received preliminary applications to purchase more than one billion doses of the Russian vaccine from 20 countries. He noted that Latin American, Middle Eastern and Asian countries are most interested to buy it.