BUENOS AIRES, June 9. /TASS/. The first batch of raw materials to produce Russia’s Sputnik V anti-coronavirus vaccine was delivered to Argentina on Tuesday, the republic’s health ministry said.

"This afternoon [local time], an Aerolineas Argentinas flight delivered active components for local production of Sputnik V," the ministry said on its Twitter page.

Besides, Argentina also received 81,000 doses of Sputnik V's first component and 400,000 doses of the second component to be used during its national vaccination campaign.

On June 4, Laboratorios Richmond CEO Marcelo Figueras announced the launch of Sputnik V production in Argentina.

Argentina was the first Latin American country to register Russia’s Sputnik V under the emergency use authorization procedure and began mass inoculation with the Russian vaccine on December 29, 2020.

Sputnik V will be manufactured in Argentina under the brand name Sputnik VIDA. It is planned to manufacture one million doses of each of the vaccine’s two components at the initial stage.