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Coronavirus pandemic

Gamaleya Center approves production of Sputnik V in Serbia, official says

A significant volume of the substances for the production of both doses of the Sputnik V jab will arrive in Belgrade from Russia in the next two weeks

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

BELGRADE, May 19. /TASS/. The Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology has 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 preparation in that Serbian institution, Serbian Minister of Innovation and Technological Development, head of an intergovernmental Serbian-Russian cooperation committee Nenad Popovic informed on Wednesday.

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Serbia to launch Sputnik V production in six to ten months, vows President Vucic

Serbia will become the first country in Europe to produce Sputnik V, the minister’s press service noted.

"The Gamaleya Institute has confirmed that the vaccines produced at Torlak comply with the prescribed quality standard. Today we received this confirmation from our Russian partners and got the approval to begin production. This is big news for Serbia. Our country will again become a powerhouse in vaccine production, which now is the same as having the most powerful weapon to protect the security of your citizens," the press service quoted the minister as saying.

According to the minister, a significant volume of the substances for the production of both doses of the Sputnik V jab will arrive in Belgrade from Russia in the next two weeks. "Very soon Serbia will have enough vaccines to fully cover its internal requirements," he emphasized, noting that Serbia intends to supply surplus doses to its neighbors in the region and countries in Europe as aid.

In his turn, Director of the Gamaleya Center Alexander Gintsburg thanked the minister for the confidence the Serbian people and leadership have in the Sputnik V vaccine, stressing that currently its efficacy of over 94% is the highest confirmed worldwide.

On February 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed in a phone conversation with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic, the independent production of the Sputnik V vaccine in the Balkan republic. After the conversation, the Serbian president reported that Serbia will build the necessary facilities with the help of Russian specialists and will be producing the vaccine on its own. It is planned that in May Serbia will begin packaging the Russian vaccine and will launch full-scale production by the end of the year. The Serbians can choose among vaccines by Pfizer, Sinopharm, British-Swedish AstraZeneca and the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. According to Serbian Ambassador to Russia Miroslav Lazanski, about 85% of Serbian residents signed up for vaccination indicated that they would like to be inoculated with Sputnik V.

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