Argentina May Start COVID-19 Vaccination With Russian Sputnik V in Early 2021 - President

BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2020) Argentina may start the COVID-19 vaccination with Russian vaccine Sputnik V in January or February 2021, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez's press service said on Wednesday.

On November 6, Fernandez held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and they discussed an agreement to provide Argentina with 25 million doses of the vaccine by late 2020 to early 2021.

"We continue to work with Russia to start the vaccination in January and February," the Argentine president said, as quoted by the press service.

According to the statement, Argentina is also planning to provide its population with the AstraZeneca Oxford COVID-19 vaccine in March.

The Sputnik V was the first COVID-19 vaccine registered in Russia and the world. The vaccine is currently going through phase 3 trials in Russia, as well as in Belarus, India, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Sputnik V is 92 percent effective, based on data from the first 16,000 trial participants that have received both shots of the two-dose vaccine.

The United Kingdom's AstraZeneca company is one of the leaders in the COVID-19 vaccine race. AstraZeneca's vaccine has passed two of the three phases of its vaccine trial. The third phase is currently being conducted in the UK, Brazil and India.