MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/. Moscow may launch development and production of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Saturday.

"Vaccines are developed at specialized research institutions and they should enjoy a high level of protection. It is important. But judging by what was reported to the president during a recent online conference, it is not ruled out that a Moscow-based institute will be the developer of such a vaccine. And further on, it will be necessary to organize its production. Moscow has capacities for that," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

According to the mayor, production of the anti-coronavirus vaccine is "a matter of science." He said he was convinced that such a vaccine would be developed and its production would be ultimately launched. "Either in Russia or abroad, but it is better in Russia. Now, as far as I know, such developments do exist," he added.

Russia’s sanitary watchdog said earlier that the Vektor State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnologies had begun to work with biologically safe mice sensible to the coronavirus infection. Researchers plan to receive the first results in June 2020.