Venezuela receives second batch of Sputnik V - MPPRE

Venezuela receives second batch of Sputnik V

On Saturday, the second batch of 100,000 Sputnik V doses arrived from Moscow to continue the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Venezuela.

The flight, flight operated by Venezuela’s state airline Conviasa, was received by Health Minister Carlos Alvarado and Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, in the company of Russia’s Ambassador to Venezuela, Sergey Mélik-Bagdasárov.

“With these 100,000 vaccines, Venezuela has now 700,000 doses to vaccinate 7’% of its population,” said the health minister.

Likewise, Alvarado explained that 80,000 doctors, health, and law enforcement personnel have been vaccinated against COVID-19 since February 18.

In this regard, the Russian ambassador to Venezuela highlighted that the shipment of vaccines represents “a symbol of our cooperation.”

Mélik-Bagdasárov said new batches will arrive soon as part of an agreement between Presidents Nicolás Maduro and Vladimir Putin.

“More vaccines will come. We have excellent relations with Venezuela, and we are moving forward with our bilateral cooperation in all the areas we need,” he stressed.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, highlighted that this new batch of vaccines is the result of great efforts made by the two countries.

“The U.S. neoliberal unipolarism was not imposed. Russia has emerged as a power for peace, cooperation and solidarity,” he said”

The Venezuelan diplomat remarked that “Russia and China have become humanitarian powers, not the type that steal vaccines or speculate on prices, but the ones that make every effort to save lives amid a pandemic like COVID-19.”

The first 100,000 doses arrived on February 13 to be administered by prioritizing medical personnel and law enforcement officers.

Sputnik V has been registered in numerous countries, and its efficacy against COVID-19 is confirmed at over 90%. The vaccine uses two versions of adenovirus vectors (rAd26 and rAd5) for the first and second dose, given 21 days apart.

The Bolivarian Government endorsed an agreement with the Russian Federation to acquire 10 million doses of the vaccine in one year to ensure immunization in Venezuela amid the pandemic.