Argentina's Laboratorios Richmond delivers first batch of Sputnik V vaccine

Argentina's Laboratorios Richmond has delivered the first batch of over 1 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine produced in Argentina to the country's health ministry, the company said in a joint statement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund on Thursday.

In total, Laboratorios Richmond delivered 995,125 doses of the first component and 152,500 doses of the second component of the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine produced at the company's facilities.

This is the first delivery of the second component of Sputnik V out of 3 million doses to be produced and supplied by the company in August.

"Laboratorios Richmond delivered 995,125 doses of the first component and 152,500 doses of the second component of the Sputnik V vaccine produced at the Company's facilities. This is the first delivery of the second component of Sputnik V out of 3 million doses to be produced and supplied by Laboratorios Richmond in August," read the statement.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said, "The second component of Sputnik V produced by Laboratorios Richmond in Argentina is delivered just as announced in the beginning of August. Cooperation between RDIF and Laboratorios Richmond support the national vaccination program in Argentina through supplying one of the best COVID vaccines in the world. More batches of the locally produced second component will follow in coming weeks."

Argentina was the first country in Latin America both to authorise Sputnik V and to start its production. The vaccine was registered in the country under the emergency use authorisation procedure and vaccination against coronavirus with the Russian vaccine started on December 29, 2020. RDIF and partners facilitated the technology transfer to Laboratorios Richmond for the local production of the vaccine.

To date, the Sputnik V vaccine has been registered in 69 countries globally with a total population of over 3.7 billion people.

In particular, Sputnik V demonstrates higher efficacy against the Delta variant of coronavirus than many other vaccines. The vaccine is 83.1 per cent effective and shows 6x reduction of infection risk. Sputnik V is also 94.4 per cent effective against hospitalisations with 18x reduction in hospitalisation risk, the statement said.

( With inputs from ANI )