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Coronavirus pandemic

Russian investment fund supplies Sputnik V vaccine to Belarus for clinical trials

Belarus has become the first country to start clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine after its registration in Russia, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund

© AFK Sistema Press Office/TASS

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has delivered the first batch of the Russian vaccine against coronavirus, Sputnik V, to the Republic of Belarus for clinical trials, the Fund said in a statement on Monday.

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"Vaccination of volunteers in Belarus will begin on October 1 as part of double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine. RDIF is funding these clinical trials in Belarus with the participation of 100 people who will have the opportunity to be vaccinated against coronavirus with a vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Ministry of Health of Russia," the statement reads.

Belarus has become the first country to start clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine after its registration in Russia, RDIF noted. "Clinical trials will be carried out in eight medical institutions selected as research centers in Belarus. Two Belarusian clinics have already received the first batches of the Sputnik V vaccine," the Fund added.

Similar clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine are planned in a number of other countries, including Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, according to RDIF Chief Executive Officer Kirill Dmitriev.

More than 50 countries in CIS, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Latin America have applied for Sputnik V, RDIF said. Earlier it announced supply agreements with Mexico for 32 mln doses, with Brazil for up to 50 mln doses, with India for 100 mln doses and with Uzbekistan for up to 35 mln doses.

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