WHO Freezes Approval Process Of Sputnik Vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO) has suspended the approval process for Russia's Sputnik V COVID vaccine, Euronews reported.

Photo Insert: 200,000 doses of 2nd component of Sputnik V upon arrival in Iran.

A regional WHO official said the manufacturing process of the jab had not met the necessary standards. Russia first applied for approval from the WHO for their vaccine in February but has not yet received an Emergency Use Listing (EUL) but the WHO said they have delayed approving the jab until a new inspection can be carried out at one of the plants where Sputnik V was manufactured.

Research published in The Lancet medical journal shows that the vaccine has 91.6% efficacy against the coronavirus. On its official Twitter account, Sputnik also claimed on Wednesday that the jab demonstrated 97.2% efficacy during the vaccination campaign in Belarus.

But both the WHO and European Medicines Agency (EMA) have said that they were still waiting for complete data from the vaccine's manufacturers.

Speaking at a press briefing for the Pan American Health Organization, a regional branch of the WHO, Assistant Director Jarbas Barbosa said Russia’s bid for emergency use authorization (EUA) had been put on hold.

"While inspecting one of the plants where the vaccine is manufactured, they found that this plant was not in agreement with the new best practices of manufacturing," he said on Wednesday.

"The producer [of the vaccine] needs to take this into account and make the necessary changes and be ready for a new inspection."

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