BUENOS AIRES, April 5./TASS/. Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez thanked Russia for supplies of a coronavirus vaccine in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, the press service of the Argentinian president’s administration reported.
The phone conversation took place after news came that Fernandez, who had earlier received the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, tested positive for coronavirus.
"The president of Argentina expressed deep gratitude to Russia and noted that his disease was mild, without symptoms, thanks to a positive effect from the Sputnik V vaccine," the report said.
According to the press service, President Vladimir Putin called his foreign counterpart to learn about the latter's health condition. It also said that the president of Argentina had asked Putin "for help, to guarantee regular vaccine supplies." "Fernandez once again said that the vaccination campaign was giving excellent results and proceeded without any serious complications," it added. For now, Argentina uses Russia’s Sputnik V, Chinese Sinopharm and Indian Covishield.
Fernandez, 62, said in a tweet overnight to Saturday that he had tested positive for coronavirus. Later, he said that he felt well, and that he would have felt much worse if he had not been vaccinated.
"The vaccine works. It must be administered. If I had not had the vaccine, I would have felt very bad now," said Fernandez, who received the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V in January.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wished his Argentinian counterpart, Alberto Fernandez, the soonest recovery from Covid-19 and a happy birthday, the Kremlin press service said on Monday.
"Vladimir Putin wished Alberto Fernandez a happy birthday and the soonest and complete recovery," it said.
Russia was the first in the world to register an anti-coronavirus vaccine on August 11, 2020. The jab, developed by the Russian Health Ministry’s Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, was dubbed Sputnik V. It is a vector vaccine based on the human adenovirus.
In early February 2020, The Lancet, a world-acclaimed medical journal, published the results of the third phase of Sputnik V’s clinical tests. The jab has shown itself to be among the world’s safest and most efficient preparations. Thus, its efficacy is estimated at 91.6% and 91.8% among volunteers older than 60. Ninety-eight percent of volunteers developed antibodies to the coronavirus.