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Russia wants to deliver UNICEF Sputnik-V vaccine to 110 million people (archive image)
Photo: DADO RUVIC / REUTERS
Russia wants to deliver 220 million doses of its »Sputnik V« vaccine to Unicef.
This was announced by both the Russian state investment fund RDIF and the children's aid organization.
Since the vaccine has to be administered twice with an interval of 21 days, the amount would benefit 110 million people in developing and emerging countries.
Unicef said they were ready to receive the cans this year to meet demand.
A possible purchase price or whether it was a donation was not disclosed.
The delivery is subject to Sputnik V receiving emergency approval from the World Health Organization (WHO).
This is expected shortly, said an RDIF spokesman.
In addition, a preliminary contract with the vaccination alliance Gavi, which is responsible for the procurement of Covax vaccines, is required.
One is in talks about this.
Russia, which has approved four vaccines for domestic use, has already signed export deals for millions of doses of Sputnik V.
At home, the vaccination campaign has so far been rather slow.
The Russian health minister said Thursday that Russia had given at least one dose of one of the vaccines to nearly 17 million people - out of a population of around 145 million.
The Covax vaccination initiative aims to ensure that poor member countries receive as much corona vaccines as quickly and as much as rich people.
By the end of the year, every country should be able to vaccinate a fifth of its population.
The WHO launched the initiative a year ago.
The vaccination alliance Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi) are involved, as are almost all countries in the world.
Unicef is part of the Covax campaign because the children's charity has decades of experience in organizing vaccination campaigns.
According to the children's aid organization, 520 million syringes have already been procured so that they are ready for vaccination.
sol / Reuters
