MINSK, 7 December (BelTA) – Russia counts on cooperation with Belarus in the trials and production of EpiVacCorona, a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Novosibirsk-based State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Andrei Rudenko said, TASS reports.
The deputy minister noted that Belarus will become the first country outside Russia to receive the Sputnik V vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. “One hundred Belarusian volunteers took part in the clinical trials of Sputnik V. We are now working on joint production of this vaccine in Belarus. I think we will continue such cooperation in relation to EpiVacCorona,” Andrei Rudenko said.
He stressed that the pandemic put the Russia-Belarus cooperation in healthcare to the test. “As has often happened in our history, we have become even more united in the face of danger,” the deputy minister noted. “During the first surge, when many people were stranded abroad, Russian airlines helped Belarusians get back home, while the Belavia air carrier did the same for Russians,” he added.
Andrei Rudenko emphasized that emergency care and other types of medical care are provided to citizens of Belarus free of charge, just like for Russian nationals. He also recalled that Russia sent test kits for detecting coronavirus and respirators to Belarus free of charge.
Two Russian coronavirus vaccines have been registered in Russia: one was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, the other one by the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR of Rospotrebnadzor. Another vaccine developed by the Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune-and-Biological Products of Russian Academy of Sciences might be registered soon.
