TASS, February 6. The Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V has been registered in Myanmar, according to the Twitter account of Sputnik V.

"Myanmar becomes the 21st country to register Sputnik V," the tweet says.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) told reporters that the registration had gone through an emergency use authorization procedure, which does not require extra clinical studies on the territory of a state.

"Myanmar has become the first state in South East Asia to officially approve the use of Sputnik V, which is one of the most effective and the safest coronavirus vaccines in the world. The number of countries in the region that have registered the vaccine will be growing further on, as we can see high demand for the vaccine and are ready to help our partners protect the health of citizens," RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said.

Earlier on Saturday, a Russian military-diplomatic source told reporters in Moscow that "the decision to register the Russian vaccine under the emergency use authorization procedure was made by Acting President Senior General Min Aung Hlaing." According to the source, the first batch of the vaccine was delivered to Myanmar from Russia in January for registration procedures.

Situation in Myanmar

Myanmar confirmed the first two coronavirus cases on March 23, 2020 and the first death was registered on March 31. To date, the country has over 141,300 cases, over 127,200 recoveries and more than 3,100 deaths.

On February 1, Myanmar’s military declared a one-year-long state of emergency and ousted the government, justifying that by alleged massive fraud at the election held in November 2020. High-ranking officials, including President Win Myin, and State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, whose party had won the election and was going to form the government. The military presented an updated list of the cabinet members who have already taken up ministerial posts.

About Russian vaccine

Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, the UAE, Iran, Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Lebanon and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska have approved the use of Sputnik V vaccine.

Russia was the first country to register its vaccine against the novel coronavirus on August 11, 2020. The Sputnik V vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Health Ministry. Sputnik V is a vaccine on a human adenoviral vector-based platform. The two-part vaccine is administered in two doses.