Vaccination Showing ‘Encouraging’ Results in Argentina

Argentina believes that vaccination with Russia’s Sputnik V shots is showing encouraging results, presidential assistant Cecilia Nicolini.

Argentina started vaccinating its population using Sputnik V shots in December.

"Fortunately, the results of the Sputnik V vaccine are very encouraging, and not only in terms of safety and efficacy," Nicolini said.

According to the official, side effects of the vaccine are "within the norm": "They are minor, and there are almost no severe side effects," she explained.

When asked when Argentina could launch production of the Sputnik V vaccine after the two countries struck a relevant memorandum, the presidential aide suggested that it would happen no earlier than in a year.

She explained that time is needed to equip the plant, transfer the technology and hire personnel.

Argentina, meanwhile, is also interested in access to another two Russian vaccines — those developed by Siberian research center Vector and the Moscow-based Chumakov research institute. The Argentine official expressed confidence that these vaccines would "be of the same quality," and the country would mull their use if a need for a wider portfolio arose.