“Dozens of countries have already expressed their desire to establish cooperation in the supply and joint production of medications. We are convinced that citizens of all states should have free access to vaccinations,” Putin said, speaking at a virtual East Asia Summit hosted by Vietnam.
The president went on to say that Moscow was ready to cooperate in providing partners with coronavirus testing systems free of charge.
“We are ready to continue to provide partners with Russian test systems, reagents for diagnosing coronavirus infection, including at no cost,” Putin said.
Earlier this week, the head of the Russian State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology Vector, announced that mass vaccination against COVID-19 with Russia’s second coronavirus vaccine, EpiVacCorona, would start in 2021.
Sputnik V, which has been developed by the Gamaleya centre and produced in cooperation with the RDIF, became the world's first registered vaccine against COVID-19 when it was registered by the Russian Ministry of Health on 11 August.
Many foreign countries have already ordered Sputnik V from Russia or expressed interest in purchasing the vaccine.