"In laboratory conditions, the first batch, I am sure, will be ready this year. Maybe not on the basis of Belmedpreparaty [the largest pharmaceutical enterprise in Belarus], but on the basis of another institution. But it will happen this year," Pinevich told the Belarus TV channel, adding that industrial production of the vaccine will start next year.
In October, a total of 100 Belarusian citizens had taken part in phase three clinical trials of Sputnik V.
On 11 August, Russia registered Sputnik V, the first country in the world to release an approved coronavirus vaccine. The two-component treatment vaccine, based on a human adenoviral vector platform, was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and is currently completing phase 3 clinical trials.
Alongside Belarus, samples of Sputnik V have been delivered to India, Hungary, Armenia and other countries for ongoing trials. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that dozens of other countries have also expressed their wish to purchase Russian COVID vaccines, including the new EpiVacCorona, registered in October.