ROME, December 11. /TASS/. The authorities of the Republic of San Marino will begin using the Russian Sputnik Light vaccine as a booster dose on December 22, representative of San Marino’s Institute for Social Security Franco Cavalli told a TASS correspondent on Saturday.

"The first shots with Sputnik Light as a booster dose will be administered in San Marino on December 22, almost 300 people have already signed up," he said.

On November 23, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) reported that the authorities of San Marino certified the single-component Sputnik Light vaccine. The first 4,000 doses of the jab arrived in the republic later in November.

In February 2021, the local authorities concluded an agreement with the RDIF for the deliveries of the Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus which not only allowed to immunize the local population of slightly over 30,000 by May but also launch vaccine tourism. According to the official, to date, 2,342 Sputnik V jabs have been administered to foreigners. He emphasized that "no serious side effects have been observed" among those inoculated with the Russian vaccine.

The fact that Sputnik V had not been approved by the European Medicines Agency did not allow the local residents to obtain a vaccination certificate recognized in Italy and other European countries. The Italian government was allowing them to postpone submitting the proof of vaccination. According to the latest decree of the Italian Health Ministry, all those inoculated with Sputnik V will obtain a vaccination certificate if they receive a third dose of any mRNA-based vaccine, such as the jabs produced by Pfizer and Moderna. According to the official, in all, in the republic,"to date, over 5,600 booster doses have been administered, that is, the mRNA preparations (Pfizer)."

According to the RDIF, the effectiveness of Sputnik in San Marino amounted to 80% 6-8 months following the administration of the second component which is higher compared to official published efficacy data of the mRNA-based vaccines, head of the RDIF Kirill Dmitriev stressed earlier.