NUR-SULTAN, February 16. /TASS/. Kazakhstan’s Health Ministry has issued a registration certificate to the Karaganda pharmaceutical facility for producing the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the government’s commission for preventing the coronavirus spread said on Tuesday.

"The Karaganda pharmaceutical facility received a registration certificate for the Gam-COVID-Vac (Sputnik V) vaccine. On February 13 this year the drug received an approval by the expert commission of Kazakhstan’s Health Ministry as a safe, high quality and effective vaccine after considering files of a registration dossier. Thanks to the support of the republic’s Health Ministry on February 15 a registration certificate was issued," the statement said.

In January, Sputnik V’s pilot batch produced by the Karaganda pharmaceutical facility was approved by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. On January 27, Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Health Minister Marat Shoranov announced that the facility had launched production of the vaccine’s first batch.

On February 1, Kazakhstan launched mass vaccination with the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine produced in Russia. By the end of this month, Kazakhstan plans to use the Sputnik V vaccine manufactured at the Karaganda pharmaceutical facility. In the second quarter of the year, the republic is preparing to start mass production of Kazakhstan’s QazCOVID-in vaccine, which is now undergoing the third stage of clinical trials.