Brazil Defends Rejection of Russia’s Sputnik Vaccine

Brazil’s nationwide well being regulator mentioned Thursday its resolution to reject the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine was based mostly on the developer’s personal information, after the latter threatened to sue for defamation.

The Brazilian company, Anvisa, based mostly the choice on proof the vaccine carried a reside model of a standard cold-causing virus — info it mentioned “was submitted by the Sputnik V vaccine developer itself.”

The decision to deny emergency use authorization for the vaccine, announced Monday, has blown up into an all-out international row.

Sputnik V said earlier Thursday it was “undertaking a legal defamation proceeding in Brazil against Anvisa for knowingly spreading false and inaccurate information.”

“Anvisa made incorrect and deceptive statements with out having examined the precise Sputnik V vaccine,” it tweeted.

The regulator fired back defensively in a press conference.

“Anvisa was accused of lying, of acting unethically, of disseminating fake news about replicating adenovirus,” mentioned the company’s director, Antonio Barra Torres.