The Buenos Aires government said on Thursday (July 22) that Argentina had complained to Russia in a letter warning of the consequences of breach of contract that it had delayed the delivery of the second dose of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
Presidential adviser Cecilia Nicolini told reporters that the letter dated July 7 has been sent to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which financially supports Sputnik 5 ( Sputnik V), confirmed the report of the “Nation”.
In December of last year, Argentina became the first Latin American country to approve an artificial satellite vaccine. The president and his deputies took the lead in accepting the vaccine while publicly expressing confidence.
The letter stated that Argentina “urgently” needed to provide a second dose of vaccine and warned that “the entire contract is at risk of being publicly cancelled.”
The Sputnik V vaccination produced by the Gamaleya Institute in Russia requires two different doses and cannot be exchanged or mixed with other vaccines.
The letter stated that Argentina understands that there are “difficulties in production.”
“But now, seven months later, we are still far behind, and we are starting to receive doses from other providers on a regular basis and proceed as planned.”
According to Nicolini, this country with a population of 45 million has signed a 30 million artificial satellite V dose agreement with Russia, of which it has received less than 12 million.
It received 9.37 million doses in the first dose, but only 2.49 million doses in the second dose.
At the beginning of the vaccination campaign, Argentina tried to vaccinate the most people with the first dose and then the second dose three months later.
Most people who received the first satellite 5 are still waiting for the second one more than three months later.
In recent weeks, the government has been seeking to accelerate vaccination to prevent an increase in infections caused by a highly contagious variant of the delta virus, which has not yet become widespread in Argentina.
Argentina is also using vaccines from AstraZeneca and Sinopharm, and recently received a Moderna vaccine donated by the United States.
Just over 17 million Argentines have been vaccinated with one of these vaccines, and less than 6 million people have been vaccinated twice.
The country has registered about 4.79 million coronavirus cases and nearly 103,000 deaths.
Russia registered Sputnik V before the large-scale clinical trial in August last year, which caused experts to worry about the fast-tracking process.
Since then, in a report published by the leading medical journal “The Lancet”, it was declared safe and more than 90% efficient, thus restoring people’s confidence in the Russian jab.
RDIF has signed production agreements with many countries, including India, and is expected to produce hundreds of millions of doses each year.
RDIF stated that its two-dose vaccine has been approved in 68 countries and has applied for registration in the European Union.
