NUR-SULTAN, February 9. /TASS/. The Karaganda Pharmaceutical Complex plans to produce 2 million doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine by June 2021 under an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kazakhstan's interagency commission on preventing the spread of COVID-19 said on Tuesday.

"The project [for the production of the vaccine] is the result of the interstate agreements, [it is] supervised by the governments of the two countries and directly by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Health. A memorandum on the supply of 2 million doses of the vaccine has been signed by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Health and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). In accordance with the agreements, it is planned to manufacture the required volumes of the vaccine by June 2021," the report said. Work is in progress to sign an appropriate agreement, the commission said.

An experimental batch of the Sputnik V vaccine manufactured by the Karaganda Pharmaceutical Complex earlier successfully passed the quality test at the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology. On January 27, Kazakhstan’s First Vice Minister of Health Marat Shoranov announced that the Karaganda Pharmaceutical Complex had begun production of the first batch.

On February 1, Kazakhstan launched vaccination of the population against COVID-19 using the Sputnik V vaccine manufactured in Russia. It plans to use the Sputnik V vaccine produced by the Karaganda Pharmaceutical Complex starting from February 15. Plans are also in store to launch production of Kazakhstan’s QazCOVID-in vaccine. Currently, it is undergoing the third phase of clinical trials.