Russia has started manufacturing its new vaccine for COVID-19 named 'Sputnik V', which was developed by N.F. Gamaleya Epidemiology and Microbiology Institute, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"The mass production of coronavirus vaccine, which was developed by N.F. Gamaleya Epidemiology and Microbiology Institute, has started," the Ministry said.

On 11 August, Russian President Putin said in a meeting that the first vaccine in the world against the coronavirus, developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, was registered in Russia and that one of his daughters was vaccinated.

The previous day, the Association of Clinical Research Organizations, a union of pharmaceutical companies in Russia, urged the head of the Ministry of Health to delay the registration due to incomplete testing. The head of the RDIF stated that 20 countries had requested in total 1 billion doses of the vaccine, named Sputnik V.

Russia currently has the largest number of confirmed cases in Europe, and the fourth-highest number of confirmed cases in the world, after the United States, Brazil, and India.

According to figures from the national coronavirus crisis center, Russia has so far reported 917,884 confirmed cases, 729,411 recoveries, 15,617 deaths, and over 32,200,000 million tests performed. (ILKHA)