Despite theft allegations, Russia says deal to make UK-developed COVID-19 vaccine is on

Russia will unveil a deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the pharmaceuticals giant and Oxford University, its wealth fund head said on Friday, adding this showed Moscow had no need to steal vaccine data.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said in an interview on Friday that Moscow did not need to steal secrets as it already had a deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture the potential British vaccine in Russia.