TASS on Sept. 28 carried a story titled “Mass Vaccination against Coronavirus To Start in Russia in Late October, Expert Says.” The source of the story is Fyodor Lisitsyn, at the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Health Ministry. Lisitsyn said in an interview with Rossiya-24 TV, “The third phase of the vaccine’s trials is scheduled to be over in late October. Mass vaccination will begin as soon as the third phase is over. I hope it will be successful.” The coverage states that Lisitsyn pointed out that vaccine production is expected to be organized at three or four production sites. Russia is also looking at organizing production with foreign partners. He stated, “Pharmaceutical companies in India alone are capable of manufacturing vaccine enough for literally half of the planet if they work to their full capacity.”
Sputnik on Sep. 22 released a story titled “Russia Expects to Reach COVID-19 Vaccine Maximum Production Level in 2021, Trade Minister Says” The story reports that Manturov told Izvestia, “We expect that in October there will be 500,000 doses, and by the end of the year 2 to 3 million doses.”
