Fernández: We are trying to organize ourselves in the delivery schedule of Sputnik V

President Alberto Fernández assured this Wednesday that his government and the Russian Gamaleya institute are trying to “order” the delivery schedule of the Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19, after the delays generated by the logistics problems of the supplier.

Fernández thus responded to a question from the Chilean press during a press conference held in the Trans-Andean country to which he paid a two-day state visit which ended on Wednesday.

The president clarified that Argentina had not “bet” on the Russian Sputnik vaccine, but “what happened was that the Sputnik V vaccine was the first available for Argentina” so that ‘it can reach the country and be distributed among the provinces.

And he added that Argentina also had contracts with AstraZeneca and indicated that it also “wanted to have a contract” with the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, although negotiations argued that this company “because of other circumstances did not result in an agreement “.

The head of state said the government was also “in talks” with the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm and was advancing in talks with Janssen, the emporium Johnson & Johnson, and with the American Moderna.

And he recalled that the Government also agreed with the Covax mechanism of the United Nations to provide 9,000,000 vaccines. As expected, this will be available in the period from February to July.

“What Argentina has done is put cards in all the places where vaccines have been made. We made him convinced that any vaccine was going to be healthy because those who developed it are leading scientific organizations recognized in the world, private or public, ”Fernández said.

In this context, he pointed out that the government has entered into an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the National Epidemiology and Microbiology Center of Gamaleyala of the Russian Federation.

“This agreement allowed us to have vaccines. Right now there is a plane in Moscow looking for new vaccines, in the mess that exists today with the vaccine issue and from which we all suffer. Europe is suffering from it and we are suffering from it in Latin America ”, he declared.

And he added: “We are trying to get the vaccine delivery schedule in order with the Russian Federation, but we are also insisting that AstraZeneca vaccines start arriving in Argentina. Trying to move forward with Sinopharm for the delivery of a million vaccines which could be done quickly. ”

“We work with everyone. Not that we choose one. The Sputnik V vaccine gives good results in Argentina, it has not generated any contraindications. I have been vaccinated with the Gamaleya vaccine. So far, we are very happy with the results we are seeing, ”he added.

When asked what Argentina and Chile could do in the pandemic, he replied: “Everything from a common strategy to bring vaccines together or work together so that other Latin American countries that have difficulty obtaining vaccines can help them; even think about how to help us in the interjurisdictional transit and possibly in the care of those who fall ill.

“In Argentina, for example, we have developed a product for moderate and severe patients, which is equine serum; it can almost halve the deaths we have today. So this is something we could work on together, ”the president said.