Russia and Tunisia are negotiating the supply of the Russian coronavirus vaccine to this Arab country as soon as possible, Russian Ambassador to Tunisia Sergei Nikolaev told RIA Novosti.
According to the diplomat, Tunisia considers the vaccination of the population against the coronavirus as the most important factor in normalizing the epidemiological situation and, consequently, returning social and economic life to normal.
"The possibility of using Russian developments to combat the coronavirus pandemic has been closely studied here since their appearance. We note the high professionalism of Tunisian medical specialists and infectious disease scientists, who promptly and on merit evaluated the effectiveness of the Sputnik V vaccine," the Ambassador said.
"The result of our joint work was the verdict of the Tunisian Ministry of Health, which authorized its use on the national territory on January 30. Negotiations are underway for deliveries of the domestic vaccine as soon as possible," Nikolaev noted.
Tunisia has become the third country in Africa after Algeria and Guinea to register the Sputnik V vaccine. The Ministry of Health issued a temporary registration for one year as part of an emergency procedure.
The Russian Ministry of Health registered the Sputnik V vaccine in August 2020; it was developed by the Gamaleya Research Center. This vaccine was the first in the world to prevent COVID-19. Sputnik V is based on a studied and validated human adenoviral vector platform whose important advantages are safety, efficacy and no long-term adverse effects. The efficacy of Sputnik V is above 90% and the vaccine provides complete protection against severe cases of coronavirus.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than 217,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Tunisia since the pandemic began, more than 175,000 people have recovered and more than seven thousand patients have died.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Mikhail Japaridze / TASS
Based on materials from RIA Novosti