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Coronavirus pandemic

Russia is in contact with Argentina over delay in COVID vaccine supplies — Kremlin

Dmitry Peskov stressed that Russia’s obligations on the supply of vaccines to foreign markets, including to Argentina, "will certainly be fulfilled," but vaccination against COVID-19 among Russian citizens remained an unconditional priority

MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is in contact with Argentina over the delay in deliveries of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in order to resolve the issue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"[It was] not a disruption [of the supply of the Sputnik V vaccine to Argentina], but a delay, hard work is underway. <...> There has been a delay, RDIF is in contact with its counterparties in order to resolve the problems that inevitably occur," Peskov said.

He noted that Russia’s obligations on the supply of vaccines to foreign markets, including to Argentina, "will certainly be fulfilled," but vaccination against COVID-19 among Russian citizens remained an unconditional priority.

"We have always said that the top priority is to meet the needs of Russians for their vaccination. You know that the campaign for universal vaccination has intensified significantly, the personal responsibility of citizens is constantly growing, vaccination rates are increasing more and more. This is an absolute priority," Peskov explained.

On Thursday, the Nacion newspaper published a letter from Cecilia Niccolini, adviser to the President of Argentina to the leadership of the RDIF, sent on July 7. In that letter, the adviser to the President asked to urgently send batches of the second component of the drug and warned that there was a risk of termination of the contract due to delays in deliveries. She later clarified that the Argentine authorities are asking not to consider their letter about Sputnik V as a threat.

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