Russia to begin certification process of Sputnik V vaccine for use in EU

Russia will begin the process of certifying its Sputnik V vaccine for use in Europe on January 19.

Head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev said on Thursday that the country will submit a formal application to the European Union for approval.

Mr. Dmitriev said Sputnik V would be produced in seven countries, adding that regulators in nine countries are expected to approve the vaccine for domestic use this month.

Sputnik V vaccine has already been approved in Argentina, Belarus, Serbia and elsewhere.

The Kremlin launched a mass inoculation roll out in December, the the first country in the world to do so, offering the vaccine to all Russian citizens for free.

So far, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has registered only two vaccines: the joint production of Pfizer (USA) and BioNTech (Germany), as well as that from Moderna (USA).

Other candidates from the UK and Asia have not yet been approved.