Six countries across the region -- Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Venezuela -- have now authorized use of the Sputnik V vaccine. In the past, right-wing members of Duque's own party, Centro Democrático, openly criticized Putin's involvement in Latin America. The day after The Lancet's publication on the Sputnik V, Colombia announced it was entering negotiations with Russia. Airport workers unload shipping containers with Sputnik V vaccine doses against COVID-19, at the Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires, on February 12, 2021. Apart from ease of negotiations, two more factors have worked to advantage the spread of Sputnik V through Latin America, according to analysts and lawmakers involved in vaccine purchases in Argentina and Bolivia: Sputnik V is cheap, and relatively easy to store.

Source: CNN February 17, 2021 11:03 UTC