Brazil's Bahia state to study Russian coronavirus vaccine

Brasilia [Brazil], September 10 (ANI/Sputnik): The Brazilian state of Bahia has signed an agreement with Russia for access to data on the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, and intends to conduct its clinical trials, the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported.
"The government of the state of Bahia signed a confidentiality agreement on Tuesday to gain access to scientific data on the COVID-19 vaccine developed in Russia," the newspaper said.
According to media reports, Brazil also intends to study the effect of the vaccine on the population with ethnic origin other than Russia's.
In early September, the authorities of the Brazilian state of Parana, on the basis of a bilateral agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), announced that they would begin testing the Russian COVID-19 vaccine in October on 10,000 volunteer medical workers.
The agreement with the RDIF includes, in addition to the third phase of clinical trials, the production and distribution of the vaccine in Brazil.
The Russian Health Ministry earlier registered the world's first vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19, developed by the Gamaleya Centre and produced jointly with the RDIF.
RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said the fund had received applications from over 20 countries for the purchase of a billion doses of the Russian coronavirus vaccine. He said Russia had agreed on the production of the vaccine in five countries. (ANI/Sputnik)