President of Argentina inoculated with Sputnik V, praises creators of Russian coronavirus vaccine

President Alberto Fernández became the second person over 60 in Argentina to be administered the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19, thanking its developer and urging his compatriots to follow his example.

Fernández, 61, received his shot at the Posadas Hospital in Buenos Aires on Thursday, after the National Administration for Medication, Food and Medical Technology recommended that people aged 60 and over be vaccinated.

“Today I received the Sputnik V vaccine,” the president said on Twitter. “I thank the Gamaleya Institute for its scientific work, those who worked so that it reaches us, and all the health personnel of our country for their enormous commitment.”

“Getting vaccinated will make us immune to the coronavirus. Let’s do it,” the president added.

Sputnik V was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, in Moscow, under the patronage of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. It is the first vaccine against the coronavirus to be used in Argentina.

Russia sent some 300,000 doses to Argentina in late December, and more than 240,000 people have been vaccinated so far, according to data from the Ministry of Health in Buenos Aires.

Fernández is not the first Argentinian over 60 to get the jab, however. That honor went to Daniel Gollán, the 65-year-old health minister for the Buenos Aires province, who was vaccinated in La Plata on Wednesday.

Sputnik V uses two different adenovirus vectors to trigger the production of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which need to be administered within 21 days. Immunity is achieved about a week after the second dose. The latest data shows the efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine to be 91.4 percent.

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