teleSUR – Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez Friday announced that the country received the first batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 and that the nation is ready to begin phase 3 of its clinical trials.
“Our country just became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to join the studies for the first COVID-19 vaccine registered in the world,” Rodriguez recalled.
The first batch’s arrival is “the result of large exchanges between Russia’s Direct Investment Fund and Venezuela’s Ministry of Health,” the Russian embassy in Venezuela’s representative Alexey Seredin added.
If the vaccine proves to be effective during its third clinical trial stage, the drug will be applied to Venezuela’s entire population.
“Our government will guarantee the Sputnik V safe production and distribution nationwide,” Rodriguez explained.
“This is a faithful reflection of our countries’ strategic cooperation,” Venezuela’s Health Minister Carlos Alvarado stressed.
About 2,000 citizens will take part in the Sputnik V vaccine’s third phase of clinical trials, according to the Bolivarian authorities.
