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Almost a year after Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar said that Serbia could produce its own coronavirus vaccine, there were announcements that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine could be produced in our country.
Photo: EPA-EFE / NOVAVAX CZMinister Loncar said Thursday that “we are open to cooperation with Russia” and that we would like “for the two countries to work together on the production of the vaccine.”
This statement by Minister Loncar with the announcement by Kirill Dmitriev, general director of the Russian Fund for Direct Investments, that the V satellite will also be produced in other countries, led some media to announce yesterday that “Russian vaccines will be made in Torlak” .
However, as Danas interlocutors claim, there is a long way to go for the production of the corona vaccine in Serbia.
– Torlak can produce the V satellite if there is a transfer of technology and staff training, but it is not a process that can be completed in one or two months. What’s more, Torlak is producing a flu vaccine this year, just to get rid and clear the space that is needed, it takes time, according to immunologist Emina Milošević.
According to the words of Kiril Dmitrijev, broadcast yesterday by the TAS agency, out of 110 places that were in the game for the production of satellite V, RDFI has selected ten that meet the conditions.
It is not indicated which countries are involved, but previous statements show that production has so far been agreed in India (300 million doses during 2021), South Korea, Brazil, China, Kazakhstan, while possible cooperation with Turkey has been reported. .
Additionally, satellite V is being provided as part of phase three trials in several countries other than Russia.
– Russian satellite V will be produced in the world. We see that the vaccine is built on the safe platform of the human adenovirus, Dmitrijev said.
However, epidemiologist Zoran Radovanović also believes that production of the Russian vaccine worldwide probably does not mean production in Serbia.
– The vaccine could eventually be packaged in Torlak, which would be more of a marketing move. Production is a much more serious endeavor and I can’t believe something like this is possible. It would be more realistic to get the vaccine in large vials and then in our country pour it into smaller vials, says Radovanović.
ALIMS can be trusted
Twenty doses of the Sputnik V vaccine arrived in Serbia earlier for laboratory testing, but it has not yet been announced whether the accompanying documentation has arrived. Zoran Todorović, a professor of clinical pharmacology at the Belgrade Faculty of Medicine, tells Danas, however, that there should be no fears regarding the safety of the Sputnik V vaccine because it is based on well-known technologies. “I think our Agency for Medicines (ALIMS) is fully capable of properly assessing the safety of the vaccine,” said Todorovic.
Pfizer vaccine for Tuesday
The Minister of Health, Zlatibor Lončar, explained yesterday that the first doses of the vaccine from the company “Pfizer” will arrive in Serbia on Monday or Tuesday, in the first tranche of just under 5,000 doses, and will be received by users of the residences. He expressed hope that the license will be obtained by other producers and that citizens of Serbia will have the opportunity to choose the vaccine, noting that the vaccine will be free.
The Serbian Agency for Medicines and Health Products has given its consent for the importation of the Pfizer-Biontek vaccine, and the first quota should arrive early next week, the media reported on Friday. Miroslav Savić, member of the Commission for Registration of Medicines, told Danas that after this importation was approved, it is necessary to complete the formal procedure to issue the appropriate permit for the use of the vaccine in Serbia.
– It is legally possible to approve the import of intervention, we are going on vacation and it is better that those vaccines come to Serbia and wait for the approval procedure to be completed, says Savić. He was unable to tell us that the accompanying documentation for the V satellite had arrived.
– It is in the interest of all citizens that more vaccines come, and for each of them to be approved it is necessary to review the attached documentation. We hope that Sputnik V will be processed in our country, because it is for the benefit of our citizens, adds Savić.
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