Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the BRICS nations for the development of COVID-19 vaccine and proposed that Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine could be produced in India and China, the two members of the five-nation bloc.
“We believe it is important to speed up the establishment of the centre for development and research of BRICS vaccines, which we agreed to do two years ago, upon the initiative of our South African friends,” Putin was quoted by news agency PTI while addressing the 12th BRICS summit via videoconferencing.
Hosted by President Putin, the summit was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, according to the news agency.
Putin said that Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine that was registered in August could be produced in China and India, both members of the BRICS, as per Sputniknews report.
“The Russian Direct Investment Fund has reached agreements with its Brazilian and Indian partners on conducting clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine, it has also reached an agreement with pharmaceutical companies in China and India to launch production of the vaccine in these countries not just to cover their needs, but for third countries as well,” Putin was quoted.
Russia on August 11 became the world’s first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, dubbed Sputnik V.
