MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russian producers of express COVID-19 tests may boost their output almost four-fold in the first quarter of 2022 to 15 mln tests per month, a source in the Industry and Trade Ministry’s press service told TASS. Commercial companies in Russia may also produce around 27 mln PCR tests per month, whereas the total test production capacities in Russia substantially exceed the number of tests conducted, according to the ministry.

Express tests are produced by eight Russian companies with the total capacities of 3.8 mln tests per month that are currently involved in increasing and upgrading the production, the source said, adding that "due to this it is currently possible to increase production capacities to 15 mln tests per month in 1Q 2022."

"According to the monitoring of the volumes of production and consumption of anti-COVID products, the current production capacities are substantially higher than the number of tests conducted," the ministry noted.