Argentina to buy 25 mln doses of Russian COVID-19 vaccine

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina could obtain 25 million doses of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine "Sputnik V" between December 2020 and January 2021, President Alberto Fernandez told Russian media on Monday.

"They would be in a position to give us 10 million of each of the two doses (required). We can have them here in December, and in the first days of January we could have, they tell me, 15 million more doses," Fernandez said in an interview with Russian news agency Sputnik.

"By December we could ... begin vaccination," a development he described as "very important, because it would allow us to vaccinate vulnerable sectors in Argentina."

Local media said the agreement with Russia was finalized after Argentine authorities visited Moscow.

The Sputnik V vaccine is being developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Research Institute and marketed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

Argentina registered its first case of COVID-19 on March 3, and has reported 1,173,533 cases with 31,140 deaths as of Sunday night.