Russian Direct Investment Fund and UNICEF Signed up Sputnik V Vaccine Supply Agreement

Human Vaccine LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announces the signing of an agreement for the supply of 220 million doses of two-dose Sputnik V Russian COVID-19 vaccine with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

An official release said that this amount is sufficient to vaccinate 110 million people. The supply agreement with UNICEF for the Sputnik V vaccine will broaden access to help meet vaccine demand around the world. Procurement and delivery of the vaccine by UNICEF is subject to the vaccine receiving WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL).

The decision is expected soon on the Sputnik V application for WHO EUL that was submitted in October 2020. Concurrently, RDIF will be holding a separate discussion with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to see the Sputnik V vaccine considered for inclusion in the COVAX Facility's Portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines.

The COVAX Facility (co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO) together with UNICEF aims to help end the acute phase of the global pandemic by the end of 2021 by providing rapid, fair and equitable access to safe and effective vaccines to all participating countries and territories regardless of income level, thus enabling the protection of frontline health care and social workers, as well as other high-risk and vulnerable groups.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said: "RDIF is proud to support UNICEF and its partners' global efforts to ensure equal and wide access to coronavirus vaccines for all countries. Vaccination is the best way to defeat the pandemic, help people feel safe, restore economies and return to normal life. Sputnik V is already used in more than 40 countries and this number keeps increasing as we continue deliveries to our partners every day."

He added that RDIF looks forward to the successful completion of the WHO prequalification process and obtaining EUL to start delivering supplies of Sputnik V through UNICEF to save millions of lives.

According to the release, the efficacy of Sputnik V is 97.6 per cent based on the analysis of data on the coronavirus infection rate among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of Sputnik V from December 5, 2020, to March 31, 2021.