North Macedonia has registered the Russian vaccine Sputnik V under the fast track procedure.

This was reported by the press service of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

Thus, the drug developed by the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after N.F.

Gamalea, approved in 46 countries with a total population of over 1.2 billion.

In terms of the number of approvals received by government regulators, Sputnik V ranks second in the world.

“The demand for the Sputnik V vaccine is growing in Europe and around the world, thousands of people prefer the Russian drug as the main means of protection against coronavirus.

RDIF has created a wide network of international vaccine partnerships, and the accession of North Macedonia to it will save many lives in the country during a pandemic, ”said Kirill Dmitriev, RDIF CEO.

In addition, since March 4, the Committee on Medicines for Medical Use of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has been carrying out a procedure for the consistent examination of the Sputnik V registration dossier.

On the eve of the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Mikhail Murashko held a video call with the Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

One of the topics of the conversation was the progress of the WHO's consideration of the application for the inclusion of the Russian vaccine in the list of medicines approved for use in emergency situations.

In turn, the chief infectious disease specialist of the United States, Anthony Fauci, in an interview with the Greek TV channel Skai, called the available data on the Russian Sputnik V vaccine "good enough".

In addition, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores were vaccinated with the Russian vaccine.

In Serbia, according to the country's President Aleksandar Vucic, more than 100 thousand people have already been vaccinated with Sputnik V.

Many representatives of the diplomatic corps in Vienna, as well as members of local international organizations, have expressed interest in vaccination against COVID-19 with Russian vaccines, said Mikhail Ulyanov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in the Austrian capital.

According to him, work in this direction is underway, but it will take at least a month.

“This will depend in part on the European authorities,” he wrote on Twitter.

COVID-19 statistics

Over the past day, 10,595 new cases of coronavirus were detected in Russia.

11,576 patients were discharged, 368 people died from complications that developed against the background of COVID-19 and concomitant diseases.

The total number of cases of coronavirus infection recorded in the country since the beginning of the pandemic has reached 4 322 776. 3 911 924 people have recovered, 89 094 patients have died.

Over the past day, the largest number of COVID-19 cases was registered in Moscow (1534), St. Petersburg (968) and the Moscow region (773).

The interdepartmental coordinating council of St. Petersburg to counter the spread of coronavirus indicated that the rate of decline in the spread of COVID-19 in the city has slowed down significantly.

At the same time, the authorities stated the insufficient activity of the townspeople in the framework of the vaccination campaign.

“In this situation, the likelihood of an increase in the incidence of COVID-19 increases.

Given the unstable epidemic situation, the interdepartmental coordinating council and the health committee urge residents of St. Petersburg who have no medical contraindications to get vaccinated against the new coronavirus infection in a timely manner, ”the council reads.

According to the head physician of the Leader of Medicine medical center, infectious disease doctor Yevgeny Timakov, in mid-spring, Russia may experience an increase in the incidence of COVID-19.

According to him, such a development of events is possible due to the fact that persons who have previously suffered a coronavirus in a mild or asymptomatic form may get sick.

In addition, during this period, air humidity and temperature contribute to the transmission of infections.

“I'm talking about the middle lane (Russia. -

RT

).

And after winter, people have a standard decrease in immunity, "RIA Novosti quotes him.

In turn, Sergei Voznesensky, Associate Professor of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the RUDN University, hopes that after this period the incidence rate will again decline.

“We very much hope that the incidence will decrease by April-May.

The number of vaccinated people is increasing every day, ”he stressed.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova reported that about 2.5 million Russians received both components of the coronavirus vaccine, while 5 million citizens underwent the first stage of vaccination.

She also spoke about the steady decline in the incidence of COVID-19 in Russia.

  • RIA News

  • © Konstantin Mikhalchevsky

Along with this, the Greek authorities have extended until March 22 the permit to enter the country for up to 500 citizens of the Russian Federation per week.

The corresponding regime has been in effect since September 7, 2020 and has already been prolonged several times.

Citizens of the Russian Federation must have a negative PCR laboratory test for coronavirus infection with them, made no later than 72 hours before their arrival in Greece, in certified laboratories with a certificate in English.

Russia resumed flights with Greece on February 8; flights from Moscow to Athens are operated twice a week.