Russia’s Sputnik V likely to be available for supply from January

Russia’s Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccine might become available for supply as early as next month, the country’s sovereign wealth fund RDIF’s top official told ThePrint.

According to Kirill Dmitriev, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of RDIF, they are hoping for approval in January 2021, and are “ready to supply the vaccine to a wider population within the same timeframe”.

“As we understand, the country’s government is working on a special Covid-19 inoculation programme that would be using the processes, technology and network of the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) currently in place,” Dmitriev said while talking about the distribution process of the vaccine once it receives approval.

“Strengthening the cold chain systems and deploying trained personnel to ensure vaccine safety would be key to the inoculation process’s ultimate success. Another important thing would be to prioritise socio-demographic groups that would be among the first to gain access to the vaccine apart from healthcare professionals,” he added.