Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announces the Sputnik V vaccine has been approved by the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition of Hungary (OGYÉI).
Thus Hungary has become the first country in the European Union to authorize the use of Sputnik V.
The vaccine was approved under the emergency use authorization procedure.
The approval is based on the results of the clinical trials of Sputnik V in Russia and a comprehensive assessment of the vaccine by experts in Hungary.
Sputnik V had been registered earlier under the same procedure in Algeria, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay and Turkmenistan.
The vaccine is also registered in Russia and Belarus.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said: "Hungary is the first EU country to realize all the advantages of Sputnik V vaccine and authorize its use.
This decision is very important as it demonstrates that the vaccine's safety and efficacy of over 90% are highly regarded by our partners in Hungary."
Sputnik V has a number of key advantages:
- Efficacy of Sputnik V is over 90%, with full protection against severe cases of COVID-19.
- The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years.
- Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.
- The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades.
- Over 1.5mn people have already been vaccinated with Sputnik V.
- The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are working collaboratively with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine.
- The Sputnik V vaccine has been approved in Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Argentina, Bolivia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay and Turkmenistan; the process to approve the vaccine in the EU has been initiated.
- There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.
- The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2 to +8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.
- The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world. ■