March 15 (SeeNews) - Serbia hopes to start the production of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine by May 20, the Serbian minister without portfolio in charge of innovation Nenad Popovic said.
"By the end of March, we will sign an agreement on technology transfer with Russian partners, and by April 16, smaller quantities of the substance from which the validation series of the vaccine will be made should arrive in our country," Popovic said in a statement last week.
The validation series will be sent back to Russia for analysis to be conducted by Gamaleya Research Institute which will take 21 days, Popovic said.
Serbia aims to produce 4 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine during the first phase of the project, he added.
Last week, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said his country has agreed on the construction of a factory for COVID-19 vaccine of China's Sinopharm on its territory and plans to start producing the vaccine as early as October 15.