More African Countries Register Russia's Sputnik Vaccine
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a specialized technical institution of the African Union (AU) that strengthens the capacity and capability of Africa's public health institutions as well as partnerships to detect and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats and outbreaks, based on data-driven interventions and programmes.
During the outbreak of the coronavirus, the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), was established by African Union,
as a component in support of the Africa Vaccine Strategy and was
endorsed by the AU Bureau of Heads of State and Government on 20th of
August 2020.
Dr John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), has emphasized: "Africa
has to team up with development partners to achieve its 60%
continent-wide vaccination in the next two years. I think that is why we
should as a collective of the continent, and of course, in partnership
with the developed world make sure that Africa has a timely access to
vaccines to meet our vaccination targets.”
An
official media release in February 2021, the Africa Vaccine Acquisition
Task Team from the African Union (AU) informed that Russia would supply
and deliver 300 million Sputnik V vaccines to Africa. That step was
intended to support African countries to attain their targeted
immunization of 60% of the population by the year-end. That vaccine
story disappeared, but instead what become so common is the speedy
registration of Sputnik V on bilateral basis in various African
countries.
According
to the latest, Nigeria has become the 68th country in the world to
approve the Russian vaccine. The use of the Sputnik V coronavirus
vaccine has been approved in Nigeria, the Russian Direct Investment Fund
(RDIF) said in an official statement.
"The
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund)
announces the approval of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against
coronavirus by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and
Control of Nigeria (NAFDAC). Nigeria has become the 68th country in the
world to approve the Russian vaccine. Total population of all countries,
where Sputnik V is approved for use, now exceeds 3.7 billion people,
which is nearly half of the global population,” the statement said.
"Nigeria
is the most populous nation in Africa, and the approval of Sputnik V
will provide for using one of the safest and most effective vaccines in
the world. Sputnik V is based on a proven human adenoviral vectors
platform and is successfully used in over 50 countries. Approval in
Nigeria will make an important contribution to the country's fight
against the pandemic,” CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)
Kirill Dmitriev said.
Besides
Nigeria, other African countries have registered Russia's Sputnik V
vaccine. Reportedly, the vaccine has been registered in Algeria, Angola,
Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia,
Tunisia, the Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zimbabwe.
Russia's
drive to share Sputnik V vaccine, of course, offers a chance to raise
its image and strengthen alliances in Africa. Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Russian Federation has made efforts promoting the vaccine
using all its channels. But supply and delivery have largely lagged
behind, the pledges have simply not been fulfilled. Russian authorities
have oftentimes said that they would step up efforts for fruitful
cooperation in combating coronavirus in Africa.
Promising
more than can be delivered appears to be a universal problem with
coronavirus vaccines, and it is a real risk for Russia as well, said
Theresa Fallon, Director of the Brussels-based Centre for Russia Europe
Asia Studies. "They have won the gold medal for creating this very
effective vaccine,” she said. "But the problem is how are they going to
implement production and delivery?”
Russian
Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), with profit motivation, has attempted
supplying the Russian vaccines through, Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum,
from the Monarch family and a third party in Dubai, United Arab
Emirates, to a number of African countries. For instance, the Republic
of Ghana reportedly signed US$64.6 million contract for Sputnik V
vaccine from Russia through Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum. It was
double the price from the producer as reported in the media.
On
the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin has noted, in a speech
early September, that advanced countries that produce vaccines against
the coronavirus do little to protect humanity from the pandemic.
"The
benefits of vaccination are enjoyed mostly by advanced economies. The
bulk of the vaccines is made there, and it is used to protect their own
population. But very little is being done to protect humanity in the
broad sense," Putin said at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the Far East of Russia.
"This is very bad for the producers, because all this boomerangs around
the globe. For instance, in Africa the level of protection with
vaccines is minimal, but contacts with the African countries continue.
There is no getting away from this. This infection will return again and
again.”
According to an official release obtained late February, the Sputnik V vaccine the following advantages:
•
Efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in
the Lancet, one of the world’s oldest and most respected medical
journals; It is one of only three vaccines in the world with efficacy of
over 90%; Sputnik V provides 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.
•
The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are working collaboratively
with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of
AstraZeneca vaccine.
• There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.
• The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world.
In February, peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet published
an analysis from Phase III clinical trial of the Russian vaccine,
showing its 91.6-percent efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The
Sputnik V vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of
Epidemiology and Microbiology.
Sputnik
V was registered in Russia on August 11, 2020 as the world's first
officially registered coronavirus vaccine. Russian vaccines have
advantages as no deaths have been reported after vaccination with the
Sputnik V, Alexander Gintsburg, Director of the Gamaleya Center, the
vaccine developer, said and was reported by TASS News Agency. "As of
today, no deaths after vaccination with Sputnik V have been registered,"
he said.
Russian
Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund
established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia,
alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors.
RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy.
RDIF's management is based in Moscow.
In
Africa, during first of September, the coronavirus-related death toll
has topped 196,190, while more than 6.9 million recoveries have been
reported. South Africa accounts for a majority of coronavirus cases and
deaths across Africa - 2,777,659 and 82,261 respectively. The death toll
in Tunisia climbed to 23,451, and 664,034 cases have been confirmed.
Egypt recorded 16,736 deaths and 288,441 coronavirus cases.
In
Sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia is ranked second to South Africa (308,134
cases and 4,675 deaths) and is followed by Kenya (235,863 cases and
4,726 deaths) and Nigeria (191,805 and 2,455). The total number of
COVID-19 cases has reached almost 8 million in Africa, according to the
World Health Organization's (WHO) Regional Office for Africa.
*Kester Kenn Klomegah writes frequently about Russia, Africa and the
BRICS. As a versatile researcher, he believes that everyone deserves equal
access to quality and trustworthy media reports. Most of his well-resourced
articles are reprinted elsewhere in a number of reputable foreign media.
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More African Countries Register Russia's Sputnik Vaccine
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a specialized technical institution of the African Union (AU) that strengthens the capacity and capability of Africa's public health institutions as well as partnerships to detect