BELGRADE, May 19 / TASS /. The Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology has confirmed the quality of the Sputnik V vaccine produced by the Torlak Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Serums in Belgrade in a trial, and has approved the production of the Russian preparation in this Serbian institution, the Serbian Minister of Innovation and Technological Development, informed Nenad Popovic on Wednesday the head of an intergovernmental committee of Serbo-Russian cooperation.

Serbia will become the first country in Europe to produce Sputnik V, the minister’s press service said.

“The Gamaleya Institute has confirmed that the vaccines produced in Torlak meet the prescribed quality standards. Today we received this confirmation from our Russian partners and have been granted permission to start production. news for Serbia. Our country will once again become a power in the production of vaccines, which now amounts to having the most powerful weapon to protect the safety of your citizens, “the press service quoted the minister as saying.

According to the minister, a large volume of substances for the production of the two doses of Sputnik V jab will arrive in Belgrade from Russia in the next two weeks. “Very soon, Serbia will have enough vaccines to fully cover its internal needs,” he stressed, noting that Serbia intends to provide excess doses to its neighbors in the region and to the countries of the region. Europe as aid.

In turn, the director of the Gamaleya Center, Alexander Gintsburg, thanked the minister for the confidence of the Serbian people and leaders in the Sputnik V vaccine, stressing that currently its effectiveness of over 94% is the highest confirmed in world.

On February 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed in a telephone conversation with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic the independent production of the Sputnik V vaccine in the Balkan Republic. After the conversation, the Serbian President announced that Serbia would build the necessary facilities with the help of Russian specialists and produce the vaccine itself. It is expected that in May, Serbia will start packaging the Russian vaccine and start full-scale production by the end of the year. Serbs can choose from vaccines from Pfizer, Sinopharm, Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca and the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. According to Serbian Ambassador to Russia Miroslav Lazanski, around 85% of Serbian residents signed up for the vaccination reported that ‘they would like to be vaccinated with Sputnik V.