MOSCOW, January 5. / TASS /. The Russian COVID-19 vaccines are likely to be authorized by international regulators, including the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2022, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeev told TASS.

"I’m one hundred percent [sure] that it will happen in 2022. But we need to understand that this is a two-way street. The WHO says that the jabs we produce at different enterprises are not exactly the same, asking to standardize [the process]. They are right, all stages of vaccine production require appropriate control," the expert noted.

Sergeev also pointed out that foreign companies "were promoting their interests, in particular, by making it harder for Russian vaccines" to be authorized all over the world.

Earlier, in late December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus discussed the issues relating to the Sputnik V vaccine’s approval. Furthermore, the sides addressed the need for mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates.