UPDATE - Brazilian Governors To Seek Government Response On Sputnik V Imports Through Court

BUENOS AIRES (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th April, 2021) Governors of Brazil's northeastern states intend to appeal to the Supreme Court if they do not receive a response from the national drug regulator Anvisa on the delays in import approval of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, Piaui state governor Wellington Dias announced on Tuesday.

"We continue to fight for the approval of the Sputnik V vaccine by Anvisa. The vaccine has been approved for use in more than 50 countries and proved its effectiveness. If Anvisa does not justify or detail the reasons for the delay for the approval, we will go to the Supreme Federal Court," Dias tweeted.

So far, nine Brazilian states requested the national drug regulator to approve the import of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

The G1 news portal, meanwhile, reported that Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Ricardo Lewandowski gave Anvisa until the end of April to decide on Sputnik V imports, otherwise the permit will be issued automatically.

The court thus granted the claim of the state of Maranhao, which has been seeking a go-ahead to import the Russian drug.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazil's leader Jair Bolsonaro discussed over the phone the registration, shipments and production of Sputnik V in the country. Brazil's drug regulator Anvisa also announced that its officials will visit the vaccine's production site in Russia to collect the data for assessing its use and import in Brazil.

Brazil currently uses three coronavirus vaccines � those developed by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac. The country is ranked third after the US and India by the total number of those who tested positive for coronavirus with a total of 13,482,023 people.