RIO DE JANEIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th May, 2021) Governors of Brazilian regions, which are part of the consortium uniting the country's northeastern states, will keep pushing for the permit to use Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, Bahia state governor Rui Costa told CNN Brasil.
"We will insist because we are convinced that 64 countries [that have authorized the use of Sputnik V] are not wrong ... many experts point out that this is one of the best vaccines with the least side effects," Costa said, adding that the Brazilian regional authorities are seeking the full transparency from national health regulator Anvisa.
Last week, Anvisa rejected a regional government request to import the Russian-made vaccine. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which markets Sputnik V abroad, called the decision "politically motivated," citing a US Department of Health report that the United States had attempted to persuade Brazil not to use the vaccine. The Sputnik V developers said they would launch a legal defamation suit against Anvisa for "knowingly spreading false and inaccurate information."
Sputnik V, the world's first registered coronavirus vaccine, has been approved for emergency use in over 60 countries across the globe. The efficacy of the vaccine stands at 97.6%, based on the latest analysis of data on the post-vaccination infection percentage among 3.8 million vaccinated Russians. It is higher than the 91.6% efficacy shown in an interim analysis from the trial published in The Lancet in early February.
