Argentina produces Russia's Sputnik V vaccine in regional first

MOSCOW/BUENOS AIRES: An Argentine firm has produced test batches of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the first in Latin America, with aims to scale up manufacturing of the drug by mid-year as the wider region grapples with a new surge in infections.

Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF and Laboratorios Richmond said on Tuesday that the Argentina pharmaceutical company had carried out the test production and that the batches would be sent to Russia's Gamaleya Institute for quality inspection. "We estimate that, if the process is positive, scale production would begin in June 2021," Richmond said in a statement, adding it aimed to have the vaccine ready "in the shortest possible time for the country and the region."