Moscow has delivered 2.5 million influenza vaccines, produced at a Nicaragua-based Russian biopharmaceutical plant, to Venezuela, Russian Ambassador in Caracas Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov said on Thursday
CARACAS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2022) Moscow has delivered 2.5 million influenza vaccines, produced at a Nicaragua-based Russian biopharmaceutical plant, to Venezuela, Russian Ambassador in Caracas Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov said on Thursday.
The Venezuelan health ministry and the pharmaceutical company Espromed Bio have contracted a total of 5 million shots with the Latin American Institute of Biotechnology MECHNIKOV. The first batch containing 2.5 million doses was delivered in April.
"Venezuela today received the final batch of the 5 million flu shots provided by Russia as part of bilateral health cooperation," Melik-Bagdasarov told journalists.
Russia wants to continue developing the cooperation with Venezuela on vaccines and insulin, the ambassador said.
Stanislav Uiba, the director general of the MECHNIKOV institute, added that the vaccination of the Venezuelan population against influenza will contribute to the fight against COVID-19.
The Latin American Institute of Biotechnology MECHNIKOV is a Russian biopharmaceutical plant built in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua in 2016 for the development and production of influenza vaccines in the region. The institute is preparing to start making the CoviVac vaccine and become the first COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer in Central America.
