MOSCOW, November 16. /TASS/. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is awaiting World Health Organization (WHO) approval of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine by the end of 2021, head of RDIF Kirill Dmitriev on Bloomberg TV on Tuesday.

"We expect the approval by the end of the year, and we are just going through some bureaucratic procedures," Dmitriev said.

Dmitriev added that Russia is successfully using the Sputnik V vaccine, and stressed that there have been no complains about its safety and effectiveness.

Sputnik V was certified in Russia on August 11, 2020, becoming the first officially registered vaccine against the coronavirus infection worldwide. To date, the jab has been certified in 71 countries with the total population of 4 bln people. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced the start of a rolling review of Sputnik V on March 4.