KIEV, November 5./TASS/. Viktor Medvedchuk, who heads the political council of the Opposition Platform - For Life Party in Ukraine, said on Thursday that Ukrainian authorities should start negotiations with Russia on joint production of the Russian coronavirus vaccine or its registration in Ukraine.
"I don’t understand actions by the Ukrainian authorities, the president and the government, who are speculating pointlessly, unprofessionally, primitively and narrow-mindedly instead of paying heed to the offer that I received in a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin concerning the possibility of supplying the vaccine to Ukraine to protect Ukrainian nationals," Medvedchuk said.
"They’d better engage in the issues of negotiations on the joint production or joint admission for its registration in Ukraine," the politician told 112 Ukraine television He emphasized that the Russian vaccines had no rivals, while the research carried out by Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Healthcare Ministry confirmed its efficiency.
"If [Ukrainian authorities] took it as a premise that the health of people and protection of the population against coronavirus have top priority, they would act the way these 50 countries of the globe have acted - asking for assistance in the issue of acquiring the Russian vaccine to protect their population," he said
During his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in October, Medvedchuk discussed the possibility of supplies of the coronavirus vaccine to Ukraine.
On August 11, Russia became the first country in the world to register a coronavirus vaccine named Sputnik V, which was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Health Ministry. The injection passed clinical trials in June-July. The vaccine is based on an already known platform that was used to create a number of other injections. The Russian Health Ministry underlined that judging by the experience of using such vaccines, they are capable of providing a long-term immunity for up to two years.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, 48,090,690 people have been infected worldwide and 1,225,202 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, 31,889,030 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.