Russian Foreign Minister: Russia is an example for entire world in its fight against COVID-19
Russia is ready to share with other countries its achievements in the field of epidemiology and health to combat the coronavirus pandemic, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview with the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.
"Domestic vaccines and medicines are the result of the hard work of our scientists. The research base, approaches to epidemiology and health care organization have been formed in our country for decades. We owe the end results to the work of many generations. And now our readiness to share these achievements is Russia's contribution to ensuring the health and well-being of all mankind," Lavrov said. "In this regard, I would like to note that we have agreed to begin the production of Sputnik V at foreign sites, including Belarus, Brazil, India, Kazakhstan, China, and South Korea."
The Russian Foreign Minister stressed that Russia was not only the first to register a COVID vaccine, but also the first to declare its readiness to supply it "on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis." Speaking about the effectiveness of the Sputnik V vaccine, Lavrov cited countries such as San Marino and Argentina as examples. "Currently, more than 70% of the population has been vaccinated in San Marino, about 42 thousand doses have been administered, of which 88.6% are sputnik V. Coronavirus cases have come to naught," he continued. - In turn, Buenos Aires has no doubt that the bet on Sputnik V turned out to be correct. About 11 million doses of the Russian vaccine have already been sent to the Latin American country. The widespread use of the vaccine has really eased people's situation, slowed the rate of spread of the disease."
As Lavrov noted, Russian approaches to organizing responses to the pandemic have been acclaimed in the world. "This concerns, in particular, the creation of national command centers, the operational development of regulatory legal acts, the development of a network of diagnostic laboratories," he said. "At the request of foreign partners, Russian doctors have successfully worked in the CIS countries, Europe and Asia. We have carried out large-scale deliveries of personal protective equipment, test systems, medicines and equipment to a number of countries,” the Russian Foreign Minister added.
Russia, according to him, takes an active part in global and regional events aimed at combating the pandemic. It also "provides assistance to foreign countries both bilaterally and through international organizations." "Practical cooperation has been established with WHO in training medical personnel to combat the pandemic. Domestic specialists are included in a number of scientific and expert groups working under the auspices of this specialized UN agency," Lavrov said.