Sputnik V vaccine authorized in Tunisia

Sputnik V vaccine authorized in Tunisia

Moscow, January 30, 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 Tunisia.

Tunisia has become the third country in Africa to register the vaccine. Sputnik V was approved under the emergency use authorization procedure. The approval is based on the results of the clinical trials of Sputnik V in Russia.

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

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

“More and more countries are recognizing the safety and high efficacy of Sputnik V, and today we are delighted to announce the emergency use authorization granted by Tunisia, which has become the third African nation to approve the vaccine. This is an important step aimed at prevention of the spread of the coronavirus. RDIF is ready to help Tunisia obtain access to one of the best vaccines in the world.”

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, the UAE, Iran and the Republic of Guinea; 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.