KIEV, January 3. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Health Ministry’s statements that the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V could not be registered until Phase 3 of clinical trials is complete has nothing in common with medicine or the Ukrainians’ interests, the Ukrainian Party Opposition Platform - For Life led by Viktor Medvedchuk said in a statement on Sunday.
"The statement made by Ukraine’s chief sanitary doctor [Viktor] Lyashko that Ukraine will not be registering Sputnik V is senile guff that has nothing to do with either medicine or the interests of Ukrainian citizens," the statement says.
Medvedchuk pointed out that "to date, none of the vaccines has gone through Phase 3 of trials. Neither Pfizer (Phase 3 will be completed in 2023), nor Moderna (in 2022), nor AstraZeneca (in 2023)."
On Saturday, Lyashko wrote on Facebook that Ukraine would use "only those coronavirus vaccines that passed Phase 3 of clinical trials with success" and that "all the rumors and political statements about Ukraine’s registration of the Russian candidate vaccine are not true." According to Lyashko, while choosing the vaccine, Ukraine will opt for those which use has been approved "by the countries with a tough regulatory policy."
Medvedchuk said earlier that the Kharkov-based Biolek pharmaceutical company had applied for the registration of Sputnik V, in particular for its production in Ukraine and the vaccination of Ukrainians. The politician says that the vaccine’s production could be organized in the country within three to six months. He however suggested that the Ukrainian authorities might reject the vaccine registration by Biolek and criticized that step as "the authorities’ criminal intention to deprive Ukrainian citizens of the right to medical protection from coronavirus."
Medvedchuk had held talks with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Gamaleya National Research Center (the developer of Sputnik V). After the meetings, the politician stated that Kiev could resolve the vaccination issue by rolling out production of Sputnik V in Ukraine. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian authorities turned the Russian vaccine down, entering into negotiation with all the other producers of coronavirus vaccines, excluding Russian. On December 30 Kiev was reported to have struck a deal on deliveries of over 1.9 million doses of the vaccine developed by the Chinese coronavirus-vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech. The first batch of 700,000 doses is expected in Ukraine in February.