Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine Update: ‘WHO Has Lifted All Barriers for Approval’, Says Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko

New Delhi, October 2: All barriers preventing the authorisation of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus by the World Health Organisation have been removed, Russia's health minister said in a tweet on Saturday. "All barriers for SputnikV authorisation by WHO have been removed, only minor administrative procedures need to be sorted. It has been confirmed by @WHO Director-General @DrTedros," Russia's Health Minister Mikhail Murashko tweeted.

Developed by Russia's Gamaleya National Center, the Sputnik V jab is currently registered in 70 countries with a population of over 4 billion people. Sputnik V received an emergency use authorisation in India in April. The vaccine uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination. Its efficacy was determined to be 91.6 per cent. Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Growing Evidence Suggests Russia's Vaccine Safe and Very Effective, But Questions On Data Remain.

Sputnik V's Tweet

"The position of the Russian Federation on promoting and registering the Russian Sputnik V vaccine was heard. We have completely resolved all issues to date,"Murashko said at a briefing in Geneva to TASS news agency.

The health minister said that he discussed the procedure of including Sputnik V in the list of vaccines recommended by the WHO for the emergency use listing against Covid infection with Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"The applicant company involved in certifying the Sputnik V vaccine with the WHO has to sign a number of documents, submit some additional paperwork -- this is an administrative procedure after all -- and this will be reviewed," he explained.

"As of today, all the barriers have been removed. So we do not see today any obstacles for further work. And this was confirmed to us by the WHO Director General," the minister added.

Ghebreyesus in a tweet thanked the Russian health minister for the visit, saying the meeting was "constructive" and shared that they discussed efforts to fight Tuberculosis and non-communicable diseases. Russia first applied for approval from the WHO for their vaccine in February but has not yet received an emergency use listing.

Last week, the WHO had suspended the approval process for Russia's Sputnik V Covid vaccine. According to a regional WHO official, the manufacturing process of the jab had not met the necessary standards, the Euronews reported. The WHO said it has delayed approving the jab until a new inspection can be carried out at one of the plants where Sputnik V was manufactured.

Earlier this year, the WHO had inspected four Russian production sites within the framework of the preliminary evaluation of Sputnik V, publishing remarks on one of them. Another inspection will be possible after the production site makes appropriate adjustments.

The WHO has, so far, recommended seven vaccines against coronavirus for the Emergency Use Listing. Additionally, 13 other applications are at the various stages of the review process, including the Russian Sputnik V and EpiVacCorona vaccines.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 03, 2021 12:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).