From November 8, only foreigners who have been vaccinated against coronavirus with drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the World Health Organization (WHO) will be able to enter the United States.
“To enter the United States, the list of accepted vaccines will be FDA-approved or on the WHO Emergency List,” the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement.
The Russian drug “Sputnik V” is not yet included in the list of vaccines approved by WHO.
On September 27, a professor at the University of Virginia, Judith Twigg, said that due to the new requirements for entering the United States, hundreds of Russian travelers, as well as residents of other countries, who were vaccinated by Sputnik V, would suffer.
On the same day, Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, called the possible decision of the US authorities not to let foreigners vaccinated by Sputnik V into the country as discriminatory. He stressed that he sees clear attempts to prevent the Russian vaccine from gaining WHO approval.
The World Health Organization, in turn, stated that there is no specific timeframe for considering an application for Sputnik V approval.
A large-scale vaccination has been taking place in Russia since January. Citizens are vaccinated free of charge and voluntarily. Five vaccines against coronavirus have been registered in the country: Sputnik V, as well as Sputnik Light, EpiVacCorona, EpiVacCorona-N and KoviVac.
All relevant information on the situation with the coronavirus is available on the websites of stopcoronavirus.rf and access vsem.rf, as well as by the hashtag #WeVotte. Coronavirus hotline: 8 (800) 2000-112.