New shipment: 517,500 doses of Sputnik V arrive in Argentina

A new shipment of 517,500 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19, produced by the Russian laboratory Gamaleya, arrived in Buenos Aires on Sunday, the government confirmed in a statement.

The flight is "the first of two [Aerolíneas Argentinas] Airbus 330-200 aircraft that left for the capital of the Russian Federation last Friday," read the note.

Health Ministry officials also welcome 96,000 Sinopharm vaccines from earlier in the day, completing a batch of one million doses of the Chinese vaccine. The first shipment of 904,000 doses arrived at Ezeiza international airport last Thursday.

The deliveries will boost Argentina's stocks considerably, with plenty of attention on the government's mass vaccination programme following the revelations of the so-called 'VIP vaccine' scandal, in which select individuals close to the government were able to jump the queue. The news forced the resignation of health minister Ginés González García, who has now been replaced at the head of the portfolio by Carla Vizzotti.

The country has to date welcomed 1.22 million doses of Sputnik V and 580,000 doses of the Covishield shot, produced by India's Serum Institute. That jab is based on the Astrazeneca-Oxford University vaccine.

To date, Argentina has recorded 2.1 million confirmed cases and almost 52,000 fatalities from the novel coronavirus. According to government data as of Sunday evening, a total of 1,041,173 vaccinations had taken place. 

Initially, healthcare professionals and staff were vaccinated, before those aged over 70 were invited to apply, qualifying as a priority group due to their age. The Sinopharm shots are being ring-fenced for teachers. Those aged over 60 have not yet been authorised to receive jabs.

– TIMES/AFP