The World Health Organization (WHO) approval epic for the Sputnik V vaccine is coming to an end. Hans Kluge, head of the organization's European office, announced a timeline for approval of the drug.
"The field of health, including vaccines, should be out of the political arena. We should not pay attention to the country in which the vaccine was created. I share Russian President Vladimir Putin's optimism that the WHO will soon include Sputnik V in the Emergency Use Listing (EUL)," Hans Kluge told RT.
The WHO representative reminded that the relevant documents were signed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund in October 2021. In the first quarter of 2022, the vaccine is expected to be approved by the WHO head office after the dossier is received, which will be sent by the end of this year, Hans Kluge noted.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov earlier said that the Russian side has not provided the WHO with some data for approval of Sputnik V. According to him, Russia and the WHO had "a different understanding of what the information provided should be".