Components for Russian Anti-COVID-19 Vaccine to Arrive in Serbia on July 5, 2021

Torlak Institute of Virology (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/MO)

Nenad Popovic, the head of the Intergovernmental Committee for Cooperation between Serbia and Russia, has announced that the substance for the Russian anti-COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, will be delivered to the Torlak Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Sera on July 5.

“We are talking about an amount of substance sufficient for the production of 250,000 doses for the first shot. Some 10 days later, according to the announcement of [our] Russian partners, Serbia should receive the same amount of the substance for the second dose,” Popovic, who is also the innovation and technological development minister, has said.

According to the minister, in two weeks’ time Torlak will have produced around 550,000 doses of both the first and the second dose. Sputnik V, it should be mentioned, is a two-part vaccine, meaning that there is a difference between the first and the second dose in terms of components.

Before Torlak puts the vaccine on the market, Popovic added, 18 samples from each of the produced series will be sent to the Russian Gamaleya National Research Center for approval.

The two countries have agreed on the regular delivery of the vaccine substances, until the agreement has been fulfilled, Popovic said and added that the initial phase of the agreement envisions the production of four million vaccine doses.