Nigeria Registers Russia’s Sputnik Vaccine -By Kester Kenn Klomegah

Nigeria has become the 68th country in the world to approve the Russian vaccine. The use of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine has been approved in Nigeria, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in an official statement.

“The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) announces the approval of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control of Nigeria (NAFDAC). Nigeria has become the 68th country in the world to approve the Russian vaccine. Total population of all countries, where Sputnik V is approved for use, now exceeds 3.7 billion people, which is nearly half of the global population,” the statement said.

“Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa, and the approval of Sputnik V will provide for using one of the safest and most effective vaccines in the world. Sputnik V is based on a proven human adenoviral vectors platform and is successfully used in over 50 countries. Approval in Nigeria will make an important contribution to the country’s fight against the pandemic,” CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said.

According to RDIF, “Real world data obtained during vaccination with Sputnik V in a number of countries (Argentina, San-Marino, Serbia, Hungary, Bahrain, Mexico, UAE, Philippines among others) demonstrate that Sputnik V is one of the safest and most effective vaccines against coronavirus”.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Africa has said that the number of coronavirus cases are rising, primarily due to widespread mass gathering and abuse of the protocols, in Africa. The updated figures released mid-July shows more than 5.6 million infections. South Africa accounts for the biggest number of Africa’s coronavirus cases and fatalities, with Egypt in the second place. In Sub-Saharan Africa, high rates are still registered countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria.