Russia has applied to the World Health Organization for accelerated registration and pre-qualification of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the country’s sovereign wealth fund said Tuesday.
Russia announced in August that it had registered the world’s first coronavirus vaccine, named after the Soviet-era satellite.
On Tuesday, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which finances the vaccine, said that accelerated registration would make Sputnik V “available globally in a shorter time frame than usual procedures.”
“The Russian Federation has become one of the first countries to apply to WHO for pre-qualification of its vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection,” RDIF said in a statement.
When contacted by AFP, the WHO said such requests were “confidential”.
According to the Russian statement, “successful pre-qualification will enable Sputnik V to be included in the list of medicines used by international procurement agencies and countries to guide bulk…
Source: Guardian Newspaper
