New Delhi, Dec 19: India will produce about 300 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in 2021, Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, said in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV channel.

"In India, we have agreements with four large manufacturers. India will produce about 300 million doses or more of the vaccine for us next year," he said, Russian news agency Tass reported. COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Moderna Gets Emergency Use Authorisation for Its Coronavirus Vaccine in US.

Dmitriev noted that out of 110 production sites that negotiated production of Sputnik V, RDIF chose 10 that meet its requirements. "The Russian Sputnik V will be actively produced in the world and we see that this is built on a safe platform based on the human adenovirus," Dmitriev said.

Earlier, Dmitriev had said that production of Sputnik V began in other countries, in particular in India, Korea, Brazil and China.

On August 11, Russia was the first country in the world to register Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. The drug passed clinical trials in June-July, post-registration studies began in Moscow on September 7, while the volunteers received the first vaccine on September 9.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 19, 2020 09:03 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).