Courtesy Adaderana

Russia has offered to assist Sri Lanka with manufacturing Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines, says Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva, the Secretary to the State Ministry of Primary Health Services, Pandemics and COVID Prevention.

In a statement, he said the Chairman of State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) Dr Prasanna Gunasena is making necessary arrangements to procure the Russian vaccine.

Dr. Harsha de Silva added that the President had made a request from the Russian government with regard to vaccine procurement. In response, Russia has offered to help Sri Lanka to manufacture them within the country.

Sri Lanka also plans to purchase 2 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, Dr. Harsha de Silva noted.

According to an interim analysis of Phase 3 trial results of the Russia-developed Sputnik V vaccine, it is 91.6% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% effective against severe and moderate disease.

Sputnik V vaccine is a two-dose adenoviral vector vaccine and its doses are administered 21 days apart.

The vaccine’s production has been funded by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is also responsible for selling it globally.

The vaccine is already approved in Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Argentina, Bolivia, Algeria, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia and the Palestinian territories.

As per reports, Sputnik V has been administered to more than 2 million people worldwide so far.

-with inputs from agencies