MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. Russia is ready to share its achievements in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic with other countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily uploaded to the ministry’s website on Wednesday.
"Domestic vaccines and medicines are the result of our scientists’ tireless efforts. Research infrastructure, approaches to epidemiology and healthcare organization have been created in our country for decades. We owe the end results to the work of many generations, and now our willingness to share these achievements is Russia’s contribution to ensuring the health and well-being of the whole of mankind," he said. "In view of that, I would like to note that we have agreed on localizing the production of Sputnik V abroad, including in Belarus, Brazil, India, Kazakhstan, China and South Korea."
Lavrov stressed that Russia was not only the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, but was also the first to declare its willingness to supply it "on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis." Referring to the efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine, he cited San Marino and Argentina as an example. "To date, more than 70% of the population in San Marino has been vaccinated, about 42,000 vaccine shots have been given, and Sputnik V accounts for 88.6% of them. Coronavirus cases have faded away," he went on to say. "In turn, Buenos Aires has no doubt that its focus on Sputnik V was correct. About 11 million doses of the domestic drug have been sent to the Latin American country. The widespread use of the vaccine has really alleviated people’s plight, the disease spread rate has slowed down."
Russia’s top diplomat noted that Moscow’s approaches to COVID-19 response measures were highly sought after in the world. "That concerns, in particular, the creation of national crisis centers, the prompt development of laws and regulations and the development of a network of disease diagnostic laboratories," he said.
"At the request of foreign partners, Russian doctors successfully worked in CIS countries, Europe and Asia. We have carried out large-scale deliveries of individual protection means, testing systems, medicines and equipment to a number of countries," he added.
According to Lavrov, Russia takes an active part in global and regional events aimed at combating the pandemic and "provides assistance to other countries on a bilateral basis and through international organizations’ mechanisms." "Practical cooperation has been established with WHO in training healthcare professionals to combat the pandemic. Domestic specialists have been included in a number of scientific expert groups working under the auspices of that specialized UN agency," Lavrov stressed.