Russia Officially Launches Production of Its Third COVID-19 Vaccine

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's Chumakov research centre officially launched production of the country's third coronavirus vaccine, CoviVac, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education said on Thursday.

Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov launched the first package of vaccine ampoules, labelled 0001.

"This means, the third Russian vaccine enters civil circulation and will be available in the regions in the coming days", the ministry said in a statement.

A healthcare worker prepares a dose of Russia's coronavirus vaccine Gam-COVID-Vac, trade-named Sputnik V, at a coronavirus vaccination center at a shopping mall, in Moscow, Russia.

© Sputnik / Vitaly Belousov

/

Go to the mediabank

Apart from the new vaccine, Russia also plans to produce over 88 million doses of anti-coronavirus medications by June 2021, including 83 million doses of Sputnik V and 5.4 million doses of EpiVacCorona.

CoviVac, registered in February, became the third vaccine developed in Russia, after Sputnik V and EpiVacCorona. According to the authorities, the vaccine is currently recommended for people aged between 18 and 60, with an expansion possible following phase 2 trials.