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All barriers for the WHO to certify Sputnik V removed, Russian Health Minister says

"So we do not see today any obstacles for further work," the Russian health minister said

Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko

© Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

GENEVA, October 2. /TASS/. All obstacles preventing the certification of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus by the World Health Organization (WHO) have been removed, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said at a briefing in Geneva in response to a question by TASS.

Summarizing the results of his meeting with WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus where, among others, the procedure of including Sputnik V in the list of vaccines recommended by the organization for the Emergency Use Listing for fighting the coronavirus infection was discussed, the Russian health minister said: "The position of the Russian Federation on promoting and registering the Russian Sputnik V vaccine was heard. We have completely resolved all issues to date."

"The applicant company involved in certifying the Sputnik V vaccine with the WHO has to sign a number of documents, submit some additional paperwork - this is an administrative procedure after all - and this will be reviewed," he explained. "As of today, all the barriers have been removed. So we do not see today any obstacles for further work. And this was confirmed to us by the WHO Director General," the Russian health minister concluded.

Ghebreyesus thanked the Russian health minister for the visit saying the meeting was constructive. In his Twitter he emphasized that the WHO Emergency Use Listing process for the vaccines against coronavirus was discussed, among others. He thanked Russian health minister for the "visit and constructive meeting," writing "thank you" in Russian.

On September 27, the press service of the WHO in response to a written inquiry by TASS said that the organization was expecting additional information from Moscow to include Sputnik V in the Emergency Use Listing and a delegation of international inspectors could be sent to Russia only upon receiving and reviewing this information. Earlier this year, the WHO inspected four Russian production sites within the framework of the preliminary evaluation of Sputnik V, publishing remarks on one of them. Another inspection will be possible after the production site makes appropriate adjustments.

To date, the WHO has recommended seven vaccines against coronavirus for the Emergency Use Listing. Additionally, 13 other applications are at the various stages of the review process, including the Russian Sputnik V and EpiVacCorona vaccines.

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