IRKUTSK, August 31. /TASS/: Large-scale deliveries of the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus infection will start in September, Russian Healthcare Minister Mikhail Murashko told journalists on Monday.
"As for vaccination against the coronavirus infection, right now simultaneously the increase in production and the post-registration observation are underway. First of all, of course, the vaccines will be supplied for healthcare workers and instructors, this [vaccination] will be absolutely voluntary. The first large batches will be supplied as early as September," the minister said.
He also added that currently several more vaccines against the coronavirus are at the clinical trials or at the registration stage. "That is why I think that we’ll reach maximal volumes in November-December. We’ll need to separate inoculation against the flu and against the coronavirus infection," he concluded.
On August 27, the Healthcare Minister reported that the deliveries of the first doses of the vaccine against the coronavirus to medical institutions within the framework of post-registration trials have started already. It is planned that in all, 40,000 volunteers will participate in Phase 3 trials.
Registered on August 11, Russian Sputnik V preparation became the first vaccine against the coronavirus worldwide that obtained state registration. The preparation was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Healthcare Ministry. In all, over 160 vaccines are being developed worldwide with over 30 of them being at the stage of clinical trials on humans.
