African countries are hoping to receive supplies of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, the executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), told Sputnik, adding that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded positively when the issue was raised during talks between the two parties in Moscow
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2020) African countries are hoping to receive supplies of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, the executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), told Sputnik, adding that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded positively when the issue was raised during talks between the two parties in Moscow.
"One of the subjects I discussed with minister Lavrov is the message from IGAD countries, from Heads of State and Government of the IGAD countries that I represent, they asked me that the Africans should be beneficiaries of this vaccine. As a good friend of Russia, I delivered this message to minister Lavrov. He took it positively and I hope we will get the vaccine once it is functional," Gebeyehu remarked.
As of Monday, more than 1.1 million cases of the coronavirus disease have been registered in Africa by the World Health Organization, and the IGAD executive secretary underlined the desire that countries on the continent have for Russia's vaccine.
"We cannot keep ourselves in continuous lockdowns, we cannot stay home. There are a lot of youth in Africa, many of them don't have jobs; people cannot just stay home and die. This needs urgent intervention. That's why we are asking - not only for the Horn of Africa region, or IGAD region - but for the whole Africa, we are asking our friends from the Russian Federation to consider Africa as a recipient and beneficiary of the vaccine against COVID-19," Gebeyehu stated.
The Sputnik V vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and produced jointly with the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The vaccine is currently in phase 3 of clinical trials.
