Sputnik V vaccine authorized in Armenia

Moscow, February 1, 2021 – The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) announces that the Sputnik V vaccine has been approved by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia.

The vaccine was approved by a Decree of the Ministry of Health based on data of Phase III clinical trials in Russia without conducting additional trials in Armenia.

To date Sputnik V has been registered in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea and Tunisia.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said:

“The number of Russia’s partners among the CIS which have authorized the use of Sputnik V, is constantly increasing. Today we announce the approval of Sputnik V by the Ministry of Health of Armenia enabling the country to start vaccination of the population with one of the best vaccines against coronavirus in the world. This vaccine cooperation will protect people’s health and will help to bring the country closer to lifting the restrictions imposed due to coronavirus.”

Sputnik V has a number of key advantages:

·        Efficacy of Sputnik V is over 90%, with full protection against severe cases of COVID-19.

·        The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years.

·        Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

·        The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades.

·        Over 1.5mn people have already been vaccinated with Sputnik V.

·        The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are working collaboratively with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine.

·        The Sputnik V vaccine has been approved in Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Argentina, Bolivia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea and Tunisia; the process to approve the vaccine in the EU has been initiated.

·        There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.

·        The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2+8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.

·        The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world.