Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan met with Russia’s envoy to Lebanon to discuss facilitating the import of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, after Russia expressed willingness to provide Lebanon with donations, according to the NNA.
MP Amal Abou Zeid informed President Michel Aoun on Tuesday about his most recent visit to Moscow where he met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkovand and Presidential Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Mikhail Bogdanov.
The meeting touched on the general situation in Lebanon, including the overwhelmed health sector amid a nationwide lockdown.
According to the state-run National News Agency, Abou Zeid said the Russian side is ready to offer Lebanon a donation of its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to Lebanon.
Earlier this month, Lebanon’s national committee on COVID-19 vaccines approved the emergency use of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.
Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine gives around 92% protection against COVID-19, according to late-stage trial results published in The Lancet.
The release of Russia’s vaccine was initially met with immense controversy after health experts noted that the vaccine was rolled out before the final trial data had been released. However, scientists and health experts now deem it safe, as its benefits have been proven.
On foreign support to Lebanon, it is worth noting that Egypt has been providing a medicine called “Remdesivir” to help treat advanced cases of COVID-19 in Lebanon, the third shipment of which arrived on Tuesday, as announced by the Ambassador of Egypt to Lebanon, Dr. Yasser Alawi.
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