Argentina begins local production of Russia's Sputnik vaccine
Argentine President Alberto Fernández and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced today that Argentina will start mass production of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine.
Production will formally begin at the Laboratorios Richmond SA plant in the western Buenos Aires suburb of Fátima, after the first shipment of the active vaccine ingredient arrives from Russia on Sunday.
“Argentina is the first country to begin production of the (Sputnik V) outside Russia,” Richmond Labs CEO Marcelo Figueiras, noted. “And by the end of this year we expect to reach a production rate of 100 million doses annually.”
This production level would allow Argentina to export the vaccine throughout Latin America. Richmond Labs produced the first test batch on April 20th, and Russia’s Gamaleya Institute approved Argentine production on Wednesday.
Argentina bet big on Sputnik last year as talks with Pfizer and other labs hit snags and production of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Mexico faced major delays due to U.S. export restrictions on certain vaccine components until recently.
Russia, Fernández noted, “helped us find the vaccines the world wasn’t giving us,”
Argentina has received 8.9 million Sputnik doses so far this year, accounting for nearly half of its total vaccine supply thus far.
Initially slammed by the right-wing opposition, the Sputnik V vaccine faced public skepticism until a peer-reviewed study published by The Lancet on February 2nd showed the vaccine protects against the deadly virus about as well as U.S. and European shots - and far more effectively than Chinese rivals, which account for most doses in the rest of South America.
Fernández’s opposition has since changed tack, with most criticism now aimed at the perceived slowness in the vaccination campaign.
Recent polling shows that while 79% of Argentine adults are willing to be vaccinated, 59% disapprove of Fernández's handling of the pandemic and 62% believe vaccination is going “slowly.”
Some 13.6 million vaccine doses have thus far been given in the country of 45 million, though only 3 million Argentines have received both doses - just 9% of the adult population.
Argentina has been hit hard by the recent Manaus and Andes Covid-19 strains, with daily cases since March rising from around 7,000 to 30,950 today - and deaths likewise jumping from an average of 126 in March, to 539 today.
At: https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/argentina-formally-starts-producing-russias-sputnik-vaccine.phtml
Argentine President Alberto Fernández (right) speaks during today's St. Petersburg International Economic Forum webcast with Richmond Labs CEO Marcelo Figueiras and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The announcement makes Argentina the first nation outside Russia to produce the Sputnik V vaccine - and one of only around a dozen in the world to produce any Covid-19 vaccine.
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There's no way that could have happened with the previous larcenous, brutal predecessor.
Thank you, peppertree!
Great news. 
This second wave has been brutal in Argentina, as indeed in the rest of South America. It's these two new strains - the Manaus and Andes - that have proven extremely contagious.
And contrary to right-wing press versions, Fernández would have preferred to have Argentina produce the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.
But Pfizer's conditions were impossible to meet, going as far as to even demand putting up Central Bank reserves and embassies as collateral (!) - as confirmed by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and later the New York Times (https://democraticunderground.com/114225229).
AstraZeneca looked more promising:
A deal was reached, whereby the active ingredient (virus DNA, etc.) would be made in Argentina and bottled in Mexico - but with some U.S.-made ingredients.
That meant 250 million doses throughout Latin America - of which 22 million were earmarked for Argentina.
But U.S. export restrictions - dating from the Trump era - stopped key ingredients from reaching the Mexican plant.
That left Argentina (and the whole region) dependent on Chinese and Russian sources - though the AstraZeneca doses are finally now becoming available, thanks to Biden's lifting the export caps last month.
The local mass production of Sputnik definitely adds to that - not just for Argentina but for the whole region.
Thank you for taking the time, and sharing your thoughts on this Judi - as always. Have a great Sunday! 
