MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. The updated Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine may be made available to the public as soon as safety testing of the drug is successfully completed, Professor Vladimir Chulanov, the Russian Health Ministry's chief independent infectious diseases specialist, told reporters.

"From a legal point of view, nothing is holding back production today: The Gamaleya Research Institute can produce the vaccine now in order to release it from the date that clinical trials are completed. This is their area of authority, as they have, among other things, the necessary production capacity. If the clinical efficacy and safety of the vaccine are confirmed, which Academician Alexander Leonidovich Gintsburg has expressed confidence in, the vaccine can be immediately put into public circulation," he said.

Chulanov also said that Sputnik V with a new antigenic composition has passed pre-clinical studies. Currently, clinical trials of the drug are being conducted jointly with the Moscow City Health Department. "The tentative timeframe for completing the follow-up with the clinical trial participants is about four weeks," he added.

"Meanwhile, I would like to note that, currently, there is no active growth of morbidity in the country. What is especially important, there is no significant increase in the number of hospitalizations either," the expert concluded.

Earlier, Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Health Ministry, told Gazeta.ru that the existing Sputnik V vaccine "no longer provides any protection [from COVID] at all." Meanwhile, clinical trials of an updated version of the drug are currently underway. The new Sputnik V is expected to enter public circulation by March 2024.