Brazil’s Health Ministry has inked a contract with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to buy Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the ministry’s press service said on Friday, TASS reports.
"The health ministry has signed a contract today on purchase of Sputnik V vaccine which will be imported from Russia by the Brazilian laboratory Uniao Quimica," the tweet said.
The vaccine is expected to be delivered by three shipments in April, May and June.
"The vaccine still needs to be approved by Anvisa (the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency - TASS]," the ministry reminds.
Earlier, the regulator asked for more information about the vaccine after Uniao Quimica and the Russian Direct Investment Fund submitted a request for the temporary emergency use authorization of Sputnik V.
In early January, Uniao Quimica received cell material to manufacture the vaccine and began producing a trial batch of the vaccine’s active components for research purposes.
