"The Russian vaccine Sputnik V has demonstrated high efficacy and safety during the clinical trials and mass vaccination," Fisenko said at a press conference.
The deputy minister added that "the decision on the registration of the vaccine was made given its high efficacy, including the information regarding the safety of the use of the adenoviral vector platform that had been used to develop other vaccines of the Gamaleya center."
Fisenko stressed that this decision was reasonable amid the pandemic, because it gave an opportunity to protect the Russian population from the virus within a short term.
"The similar way was used by foreign regulators in the US, the EU, the United Kingdom: the use of Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca drugs for mass vaccination is being conducted along with the continuing clinical trials," Fisenko said.
Earlier in the day, the head of the Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Alexander Gintsburg, said that Sputnik V has been thoroughly tested and that major foreign vaccine producers had followed their example.
In August, Russia became the first country in the world to register a COVID-19 vaccine, named Sputnik V. The vaccine, which is based on a human adenoviral vector platform, was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. During clinical trials, Sputnik V turned out to be more than 90 percent effective at preventing coronavirus infection after three control points and demonstrated 100% efficacy against severe cases of the novel virus.