The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to assess the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine under the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) procedure, the WHO Geneva office told TASS on Tuesday, making it clear that the organization’s position on this matter has not changed in the recent days, Trend reports.
"As with other candidate vaccines, WHO continues to assess Sputnik V vaccines from different manufacturing sites and will publish decisions on their EUL status when all the data are available and the review is concluded," the WHO said. "Any vaccine that is proven to be safe, efficacious and quality assured, and otherwise meets the requirements set forth in the EUL procedure, will be granted an EUL recommendation."
According to the WHO, the EUL assessment process is geared "to speed up equitable access to vaccines in order to save lives."
Speaking about Sputnik’s prospects to be adopted for the EUL, the WHO cited Mariangela Simao, WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines, who told a news conference on October 7 that "the process is about to be restarted." "There still will be issues around complete information on the dossier that has to be provided by the applicant, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, and there are also issues regarding the finalization of the inspections in the different manufacturers in Russia," she said.
After talks with Director General of the World Health Organization Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva on October 1, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that all barriers hampering the registration of Sputnik V with the WHO had been removed.