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Brazil Declines to Approve Sputnik V

Health regulators in Brazil have declined to approve Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the Washington Post reports.

While Russia's quick approval of the vaccine last August, developed by researchers at the Gamaleya Institute, raised eyebrows as it had not finished phase III testing at the time, the researchers later reported in the Lancet that Sputnik V was safe and had 91.6 percent efficacy in preventing COVID-19.

But the Post reports that Brazilian regulators have raised concerns about the vaccine, namely about the lack of quality control and efficacy data as well as the limited information on side effects. "Flaws … were identified in all stages of clinical studies," Brazil's Health Regulatory Agency, or Anvisa, says in a statement, according to the Post. Anvisa adds that there weren't "any manufacturing conditions identified that demonstrate that the products are consistently produced and controlled."

According to the Post, the developers of the vaccine countered that the decision was political and has "nothing to do with access to information or science."

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