Argentina's Health Minister Gines Gonzalez on Tuesday authorized the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine "Covishield" produced by the Serum Institute of India.
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The decision was taken after the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) evaluated the Covishield clinical trials which showed "no serious adverse events or significant differences in efficacy."
"This vaccine is currently presented as a safe and effective therapeutic tool for our country to lower mortality, reduce morbidity, and reduce the SARS-Cov-2 spread,″ Gonzalez said.
Produced thanks to technological transfers from the Oxford University and AstraZeneca, Covishield has been approved by twelve countries so far.
On Dec. 23, 2020, ANMAT allowed the use of the Russian COVID-19 Sputnik V vaccine, extending its application to people over 60 years last month. The South American nation has so far received 820,000 Sputnik V doses.
Besides the contract with the Russian Gamaleya Institute, President Alberto Fernandez signed deals for the acquisition of 23.6 million COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and nine million from the UN COVAX mechanism.
As of Tuesday morning, Argentina had reported 1,985,501 COVID-19 cases and 49,398 related deaths.