Governors want speedy Sputnik V production in Brazil

BRASILIA. KAZINFORM - Representatives from 18 states and the Federal District paid a visit (Mar. 2) to the facilities of pharmaceutical company União Química in the Federal District on Tuesday (Mar. 2). The firm is tasked with the production of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for Sputnik V, Russia’s vaccine against COVID-19, Agencia Brasil reports.

The production of the API is being conducted for the purposes of testing, and manufacture on commercial scale is still pending approval by Brazil’s national sanitary regulator Anvisa. The state governors call for the speedy authorization of the vaccine so that large scale production can start as soon as possible.

Officials from the Health Ministry monitoring the visit said they have the contract for Sputnik V in hand. Should the authorization be granted, 10 million doses slated to be available in March should arrive from Russian ready to be used as part of Brazil’s immunization program.

«This comes to add to the strategy of ensuring vaccination for the highest-risk group up to April [at the latest],» said Piauí Governor Wellington Dias. União Química, he went on to declare, is set to unveil a schedule for its own production of Sputnik V by next week.