Moscow, Feb 21 (FN Agency) The Russian Embassy in Washington has been receiving numerous requests about the possibility of getting vaccinated against the coronavirus with Russia’s Sputnik V, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said. “You have no idea how many phone calls we get with the request ‘you are all getting vaccinated, don’t forget about us,’” Antonov said on the Soloviev Live YouTube channel. The Russian ambassador emphasized that there are 5-7 million Russians living in the US.
“Plus … I’m getting phone calls from my colleagues from countries of the post-Soviet space who are saying … don’t forget about us … we would like to use the Russian vaccine,” Antonov said.
He added that ambassadors from CIS countries have asked him to consider ordering Sputnik V deliveries for their missions if the Russian embassy orders Sputnik V vaccines for its staff. In August 2020, Russia became the first country in the world to register a vaccine against the coronavirus, dubbed Sputnik V, and developed by the Gamaleya research institute. According to analysis of phase 3 clinical trials of Sputnik V, published by The Lancet medical journal, Sputnik V has 91.6 percent efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The Russian Sputnik V vaccine has been authorized in 26 countries. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the emergency use of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines only.