Maduro says Russian coronavirus vaccine to arrive in Venezuela in Sept 2020

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Russia's Sputnik-V vaccine against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) would be delivered to Venezuela in September 2020 for clinical trials.

"The first vaccine, from Russia, will arrive in September for clinical trials," Maduro said during a televised speech broadcast on his Twitter.

He said he intended to discuss with the leadership of the National Electoral Council the possibility of vaccinating all candidates in the upcoming elections to the National Assembly for a calm campaign. The talk is about 14,400 candidates for parliament lawmakers.

The Russian Health Ministry earlier registered the world's first vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19, developed by the Gamaleya Center, and produced jointly with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said the fund had received applications from over 20 countries for the purchase of a billion doses of the Russian coronavirus vaccine. He said Russia had agreed on the production of the vaccine in five countries.