"Human Vaccine LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) announces the signing of an agreement for the supply of 220 million doses of two-dose Sputnik V Russian COVID-19 vaccine with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). This amount is sufficient to vaccinate 110 million people", the fund said.
The agreement with UNICEF on the Sputnik V vaccine will help expand access and meet demand for vaccines around the world, the fund said.
"Procurement and delivery of the vaccine by UNICEF is subject to the vaccine receiving WHO Emergency Use Listing. The decision is expected soon on the Sputnik V application for WHO Emergency Use Listing that was submitted in October 2020", the statement says.
RDIF will also hold talks with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to discuss the possibility of including Sputnik V in the COVAX portfolio of coronavirus vaccines. In March, RDIF announced that it had applied for the Sputnik V vaccine to participate in this international program.
"RDIF is proud to support UNICEF and its partners’ global efforts to ensure equal and wide access to coronavirus vaccines for all countries. Vaccination is the best way to defeat the pandemic, help people feel safe, restore economies and return to normal life", RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said.
He recalled that Sputnik V was already being used by more than 40 countries.
"This number keeps increasing as we continue deliveries to our partners every day. RDIF looks forward to the successful completion of the WHO prequalification process and obtaining EUL to start delivering supplies of Sputnik V through UNICEF to save millions of lives", he added.
The World Health Organisation said earlier this month that it expected to give its safety assessment of Russia's coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V in late June or in July. Sputnik V, the world's first registered coronavirus vaccine, has been approved for emergency use in more than 60 countries across the globe. According to an interim analysis from the trial published in The Lancet, the vaccine has 91.6 percent efficacy.
