Zambia eager for Russia’s Sputnik V
Zambia is eager to get Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine as soon as it hits the market, the African nation's ambassador told Sputnik, adding that health ministers of the two countries were already in talks on the matter.
"The Russian government has already exchanged correspondence with the Zambian government regarding rolling out of this vaccine. We are anxiously following the process of rolling out of the Sputnik V vaccine on the market so that we can access it," Shadreck Luwita said in an interview.
Russia became the first country to register a vaccine against COVID-19. It started rolling out Sputnik V before the end of the third phase of clinical trials.
Oz begins production of Oxford vaccine
The CSL Limited company started production of the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine on Monday, Australian media report.
Thirty million doses of the vaccine will enter manufacturing in Victoria on Monday, according to Sydney's 2GB radio.
"(The vaccine) is going to be voluntary but we will encourage as many people as possible," Health Minister Greg Hunt told 2GB on Monday. "We are confident that we will have a very high take-up amongst the Australian population," he added.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that it will take CSL about 50 days to completely process the vaccine. According to the newspaper, the company has separate contracts with AstraZeneca and the Australian government for the production of the vaccine.