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Coronavirus pandemic

Russian Direct Investment Fund, Brazil agree to advance Russian coronavirus vaccine

The fund and pharmaceutical enterprises of the Brazilian state will organize the production of the vaccine and its supply to Brazil and other Latin American countries

MOSCOW/RIO DE JANEIRO, August 12./TASS/. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Brazil’s State of Parana have agreed on cooperation to advance Russia’s 'Sputnik V' COVID-19 vaccine, the fund said in a press release.

Within the framework of a strategic cooperation agreement, th eRDIF and pharmaceutical enterprises of the Brazilian state will organize the production of the vaccine and its supply to Brazil and other Latin American countries.

Shortly, the RDIF and the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology will be ready to provide the Parana Institute of Technology (Tecpar) with the results of clinical tests of the vaccine and technological protocols for its production.

Russian Ambassador to Brazil Sergey Akopov said during the signing ceremony on Wednesday that the agreement with the government of Parana was opening a new dimension in relations between Russia and Brazil.

"Today we are making a major step towards establishing productive cooperation between the State of Parana and the RDIF, which will certainly open a new dimension in relations between Russia and Brazil," the diplomat said. According to him, multi-faceted strategic partnership of Moscow and Brasilia has been strengthening in the recent years, despite political and economic circumstances, since the development of bilateral relations meets the national interests of the countries.

On Wednesday, Parana Governor Ratinho Junior and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) head Kirill Dmitriev signed a memorandum of understanding, based on which the southern state plans to test the Russian coronavirus vaccine with a further possibility to produce it. The ceremony was held in the online format.

On August 11, Russia became the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, which was named Sputnik V. The vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and underwent clinical trials in June and July. It was created on a platform that had been used for the development of a number of other vaccines. According to the Russian Health Ministry, experience shows that such vaccines are capable of developing long-term immunity that lasts for up to two years. Dmitriev pointed out that Russia had received applications for more than one bln doses of the vaccine from 20 countries.

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