Anthony releases letter from Russian agency regarding Sputnik-V vaccine

…calls on Harmon to apologise, support vaccination campaign

The Ministry of Health has made public a letter from Director-General of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Alexander Christyakov in which the official has confirmed the authenticity of the shipment of 305,536 doses of Sputnik-V vaccines to Guyana.

In the letter received on Tuesday, June 22, 2021,  Christyakov outlined the batch number for the vaccines that were shipped in five dispatches. There were 244, 268 of the first dose and 61,268 of the second. The document included the batch number, expiry date of the vaccines, and the quantity of doses. Some vaccines will expire on July 1, August 1, and October 31, 2021.

The Official also noted that all supporting documentation inclusive of batch release, certificate of analysis and packing list have been provided along with the shipments.

“We would like to confirm, hereby, the authenticity of the shipments of ‘Gam­-COVID-Vac’ adenovirus vector vaccine containing Component-I: recombinant serotype-26 adenoviral particles containing the S-protein gene of the SARS-CoV­2 virus and containing Component II: recombinant serotype-5 adenoviral particles containing the S-protein gene of the SARS-CoV-2 (“Sputnik V”) with below listed batches that have been dispatched to Aurugulf (UAE) for further transportation to the countries where Aurugulf received authorization for selling and distribution of “Sputnik V”, including Guyana,” the letter stated.

In a supporting release, the Ministry of Health called on Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon to publicly withdraw his statements regarding the authenticity of the vaccines. Harmon had questioned such when it was revealed recently by Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, that the Sputnik-V vaccines procured for Guyana were not procured directly from the Government of Russia, but through a middleman whom he identified as the Sheik Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum.

Harmon had pressed that the Health Ministry facilitate answers on whether the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation could not provide the Sputnik V vaccines to the Government of Guyana directly or via the RDIF; whether Sheik Al Maktoum is a duly authorised distributor of the Sputnik V vaccine; and whether Sheik Al Maktoum was supplied with Sputnik V vaccines by the Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

In its release, the Ministry of Health pointed out that the batch numbers issued by the RDIF matches that of the vaccines received by the Ministry of Health and called for Harmon to now support the ongoing vaccination campaign.

The Ministry stated: “We call upon Mr Harmon to publicly withdraw his reckless and irresponsible statements, and to issue a public apology to the Guyanese people for the irreparable harm that he has done to national vaccination program, the distrust that he has created and the vaccine hesitancy that he caused which has indirectly put at risk the lives of many Guyanese. We also call on him to make a forthright statement in support of the vaccination program and to stop playing cheap politics.”

The Sputnik-V vaccine has not been approved by PAHO/WHO but has been approved by Guyana’s regulatory agency, the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD).