MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2021) Uzbekistan is considering the option of manufacturing Russia's coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday following his meeting with his Uzbek counterpart, Abdulaziz Kamilov.
Uzbekistan certified Russia's Sputnik V for nationwide use last month, seeking to procure 1 million doses. The country is expected to roll out its mass vaccination campaign in the coming days.
"The production of Sputnik V vaccine is being considered in Uzbekistan. As I said, it has been registered there on an expedited basis. We very much appreciate our cooperation in this area," Lavrov said at a joint press conference, adding that a delegation from Uzbekistan's Ministry of Health is currently in Moscow, working with Russian colleagues.
The Russian minister also touched on other issues of the meeting's agenda, saying that the talks also addressed cooperation on international labor migration amid the pandemic.
"We also talked about the fact that as epidemiological restrictions ease, our interaction in the field of labor migration will be restored and will reach its previous level. There are specific agreements on this that make it possible to coordinate the actions of the relevant services," Lavrov said.
The top diplomat recalled that the two nations had recently adopted a special algorithm for migrant workers allowing them to travel amid the pandemic while borders are closed. The algorithm is applicable to all countries, whose citizens stay in Russia as workers. It requires an employer willing to send back or invite a new migrant worker to submit an application with the relevant regional authority, as the Russian regions are entitled to make decisions related to epidemiological restrictions or their relaxation. The regional authorities then will decide whether to approve the employer's application, taking into account the requirements by regional coronavirus response centers.
