Serbia To Export Home-Produced Sputnik V After Meeting Own Needs - Parliament Speaker

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2021) Serbia will begin exporting the domestically-produced Russian vaccine Sputnik V only after it has met its own vaccination needs, parliament speaker Ivica Dacic told Sputnik on Monday.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, launched the production of Sputnik V in Serbia.

Dacic noted that Serbia will be the only country in Europe to manufacture the Russian vaccine.

"Of course, if our production capacities allow exports, we will sell it to all those who are interested," he said.

Though, according to Dacic, it is yet unclear how many times people will need to get the vaccine.

"If the pandemic continues for another year, they will be forced to receive additional doses of the drug, because the antibodies may not last," he said.

Dacic also urged the European Union to avoid politicizing vaccines and said that he was sure that the European drug regulator would soon authorize Sputnik V for use.

The approval of Sputnik V within the EU has been tinged with controversy as various officials and politicians spoke out against the use of the Russian vaccine for various reasons. Russia, on its part, has raised the issue of possible political bias against the vaccine, outlining that its advanced efficacy has been proven in clinical trials.

Currently, Sputnik V has been approved in 67 countries.