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Belarus to start mass producing Sputnik V vaccine in late March

MINSK, 9 March (BelTA) – Mass production of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is to be launched in Belarus at the end of March, Deputy Healthcare Minister Dmitry Cherednichenko told the ONT TV channel, BelTA informs.

“The first batch of 15,000 vials was manufactured on 26 February. These vaccines are now being tested for safety, efficacy and other parameters at the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology of Russia’s Ministry of Health. We will start producing the vaccine on 30-31 March. Our plan is 500,000 doses per month. This is quite a lot,” Dmitry Cherednichenko said.

According to him, the most important thing is to meet the domestic needs. “First of all, we need to vaccinate our own people. When we get an opportunity to export the vaccine, we will do it. This is part of the agreement,” the deputy minister said.

Speaking about the pharmaceutical market of Belarus, he noted that almost half of all drugs sold domestically (both in monetary terms and in the number of packages) are made in Belarus. “The bulk of these medicines is supplied to hospitals, while a smaller share is sold by the retail sector. Due to having our own pharmaceutical production, we successfully handled the first wave of the pandemic, and now we are coping with the second one,” Dmitry Cherednichenko explained.

According to him, in 2020 Belarusian medicines were exported to 31 markets, from neighboring countries to North America and South America. “It is quite a challenge to penetrate the market of another country, another continent. It takes a lot of time and money, but it is worth it,” the deputy minister said.

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