MOSCOW — The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, announced the approval of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus by the Egyptian Drug Authority.

Egypt is the 35th country in the world to approve Sputnik V. It is also the most populated country in the Middle East with over 100 million people. Egyptian Drug Authority has approved the vaccine under the emergency use authorization procedure.

Sputnik is one of the world's top three coronavirus vaccines in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators.

Sputnik V had been approved earlier in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Republika Srpska (entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Gabon, San-Marino, Ghana, Syria, Kyrgyzstan and Guyana.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the RDIF, said: “Egypt is the most populated country of the Middle East and the decision of the Egyptian Drug Authority to include Sputnik V in the national vaccine portfolio demonstrates the appreciation of safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

“Sputnik V is now approved in 35 countries around the world and the number of registrations will keep increasing in coming weeks as the Russian vaccine is widely recognized as one of the best in the world.”

Meanwhile, the efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in the Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals; it is one of only three vaccines in the world with efficacy of over 90%; Sputnik V provides full protection against severe cases of COVID-19.

The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years. — SG