(Reuters) – Russia’s sovereign wealth fund RDIF has filed for registration of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in the European Union and expects it to be reviewed in February, as Moscow wants to speed up its worldwide availability.
The official bill promoting the vaccine tweeted the latest development on Wednesday, moving it one step closer to approval as countries around the world plan massive vaccination vaccines to stem the pandemic.
The Sputnik V vaccine has been approved in Argentina, Belarus, Serbia and several other countries.
The Sputnik V and European Medical Agency (EMA) on Tuesday held a scientific review of the vaccine, the Sputnik V account said, adding that the EMA will make a decision on the authorization of the vaccine based on the reviews . (https://bit.ly/39OQZDR)
While vaccines from Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc have started rolling out in several countries, experts said several vaccines will be needed to control the pandemic that has killed more than two million people worldwide.
Mexico, which is seeing a decline in delivery of COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer Inc., said it was aiming to supplement the shortage with doses from other suppliers.
Russia submitted a formal application to the European Union in February for approval of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, RDIF chief Kirill Dmitriev said in an interview at the Reuters Next conference last week.
The approval of the emergency vaccine was recently delayed in Brazil, after the country’s health regulator said documents supporting the application did not meet the minimum criteria.
(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar, Additional Reporting by Manas Mishra; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Bernard Orr)