NOVO-OGARYOVO, November 20. /TASS/. Russia is looking at exporting its anti-coronavirus vaccines to other countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin told an APEC summit on Friday.
"Naturally, the top priority matter is to pool efforts to combat the coronavirus infection, and Russia does have something to offer its partner and friends," he said. "We have accumulated a serious scientific and even clinical experience in this sphere. Two vaccines - Sputnik V and Epivaccorona - have been developed and registered in Russia. Another one, the third vaccine, is at a final stage of tests."
"Together with our foreign partners, we are looking at possible supplies of these vaccines and localization of their production," Putin noted.
Putin stressed that "both vaccines meet the two major criteria - they are absolutely safe and effective." "The thing is only to establish mass production," he said. "We are establishing such production in Russia."
The Russian president noted that the pandemic "has entailed really serious problems in most of the Asia Pacific nations, with the number of coronavirus cases in the Asia Pacific region exceeding 26 million, and exceeding 56 million globally, according to the World Health Organization," he said. "The infection is claiming more and more lives."
The Russian leader shared positive assessments of Malaysia’s presidency in APEC this year. "Importantly, despite the problems stemming from the novel coronavirus infection spread, cooperation within APEC has been developing progressively," Putin added.