Serbia plans to produce four mln doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the next five to six months, Serbian Minister of Innovation and Technological Development Nenad Popovic, who heads the intergovernmental committee for cooperation with Russia, said during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday, Trend reports with reference to TASS.
"The substance for vaccine production has just been delivered to Sheremetyevo Airport and will be dispatched to Belgrade this afternoon in special containers where temperature is maintained between two and eight degrees Celsius. Right upon arrival in Belgrade, the substance will be delivered to the Torlak Institute, where everything is ready for production launch. Serbia will produce four million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine in the first five to six months. As for the production of the second vaccine dose, it is very complicated, which is what guarantees the Russian vaccine’s effectiveness. According to the latest research, Russia’s Sputnik V is 97.6% effective," Popovic told the RTS TV channel.
On May 19, Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology confirmed the quality of the Sputnik V vaccine produced by Belgrade’s Torlak Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Sera during a trial, and approved the production of the Russian medication by the Serbian institute.
On February 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic discussed the production of Sputnik V in Serbia. After the phone call, Vucic said that with the assistance of Russian specialists, Serbia would build the necessary facilities and would be producing the jab independently. Under the plans, Serbia will first begin prepackaging the Russian vaccine, while its full-scale production will be launched before the end of the year.
The Serbian people can currently choose between the Pfizer, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines. According to Serbian Ambassador to Russia Miroslav Lazanski, about 85% of people in Serbia pointed out in their vaccination applications that they would like to get Sputnik V shots.