NOVOSIBIRSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2020) Russia needs to have several COVID-19 vaccines in its arsenal to effectively cope with the health crisis, Anna Popova, the head of the country's public health watchdog, said on Monday, adding that Russian experts are currently conducting trials to implement this task.
"It is absolutely certain that each country, including the Russian Federation, should have several different vaccines. This is what we are doing today," Popova told reporters, when asked to compare the vaccine from the Gamaleya Research Institute, which has already been registered, and the other from State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vektor.
In July, Vektor started clinical trials of its vaccine against COVID-19, which is expected to be registered in fall.
Earlier in August, Russia registered the world's first COVID-19 vaccine, named Sputnik V and developed by the Gamaleya Institute. The Russian Ministry of Health has said that Sputnik V had undergone all necessary checks and proven to be capable of building immunity against the virus.
Russian officials are currently in talks with a number of countries to seal production and distribution agreements.
