GENEVA, June 21. /TASS/. Russia is open for cooperation in the sphere of epidemiological security and calls for pooling efforts of states to combat the coronavirus infection, the Russian delegation to the 47th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva said on Monday.
The pandemic has highlighted the necessity of collective efforts to combat this threat, including "assistance to the most affected countries, ensuring urgent access to food and medicines and ending trade wars and the practice of unilateral coercive measures," Artur Chernyakov, a member of the Russian delegation, told the session.
"We are convinced that the coronavirus infection can be effectively combated only through consolidated efforts," he stressed. "We are open for cooperation in the sphere of epidemiological security."
He noted that timely efforts to prepare the public health system in 2020 helped mitigate the pandemic impacts in Russia. The major achievement in this context was the development and mass production of effective coronavirus vaccines, including Sputnik V, which has been registered in 66 world nations. Agreements on its production have been signed with more than ten countries. "It will make it possible to manufacture enough vaccines to vaccinate hundreds of millions of people this year," he added.