Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine was the first to arrive in Argentina in December 2020 with the promise of relief for Latin American c
Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine was the first to arrive in Argentina in December 2020 with the promise of relief for Latin American countries low on the waiting list for shots developed, and approved, in the West.
Yet to receive UN approval, the vaccine has since been taken up by about a dozen countries in the region — but, eight months in, a critical shortage of the second dose is weighing heavily on governments with limited alternatives.
Inoculation with Sputnik V, produced by Russian institute Gamaleya, requires two doses that differ from one another and were not designed to be swapped or mixed with other vaccines.
“I feel betrayed, that it is a hoax,” Noreyda Hernandez, a 66-year-old teacher, told AFP after disappointment at a vaccination center in the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo, which has no doses for those who need it.
There are similar scenes in Bolivia, where older adults arrive at clinics only to find notices informing them that the second dose has been “postponed until further notice.”
“We are tired, we keep coming back and every time it is the same answer: ‘The government must say.’ But what can the government say if it doesn’t know anything?” German Alarcon, 70, told AFP in La Paz.
Russia registered Sputnik V last August ahead of large-scale clinical trials, prompting concern among experts over the fast-tracked process.
‘Still waiting’
The vaccine has since been declared safe and over 90% effective in a report published by leading medical journal The Lancet, restoring confidence in Russia’s jab.
The problem now, is production.
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