BELGRADE, February 10. /TASS/. Serbia will begin packaging Russian Sputnik V vaccine in 2 to 3 months, and will establish its proper production before the end of this year, Serbian Health Ministry state secretary Mirsad Djerlek said in an interview Wednesday.

"Initially, the mix will be shipped from Russia, and we will pack it in bottles here; in practice, this can begin in two to three months, in my opinion. The second phase include establishment of production capabilities [in Serbia], and we expect big help from Russia, because the production technology is currently unknown to us, but [the Russian delegation] will present us this technology tomorrow," Djerlek said. "It is also important that Serbia will become the first country in the world, besides Russia, to establish the production of the Russian vaccine. It would be realistic to expect that, before the end of this year, or maybe even one month earlier, we will begin making the vaccine in Serbia."

On February 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the vaccine production with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic. Following the conversation, Vucic disclosed that Serbia, with aid of Russian specialists, will build the necessary facilities and will produce the vaccine on its own.

A delegation of Russian specialists is expected to arrive to the Torlak Institute of Virology in Belgrade on February 11, where it will assess the staff and technical capabilities of this organization.

On December 24, Serbia commenced vaccination with US-made Pfizer vaccine. On December 31, the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of Serbia (ALIMS) issued the permission to use the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, and, on January 6, Serbia commenced vaccination with the Russian vaccine. On January 16, Russia delivered the first batch of 1 million doses; two days later, ALIMS permitted administration of 100,000 doses of a Chinese vaccine.

The Russian vaccine enjoys massive popularity among Serbians: over 40% of those who applied for vaccination stated that they would like to get the Russian vaccine specifically.