Russia’s Chumakov Federal Scientific Center is in talks with several foreign partners to approve the use of the CoviVac COVID-19 jab in Southeast Asia as well as Central and South America, however, no specific agreements have been made so far, Aidar Ishmukhametov, director general of the center and a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS on Friday.

We are negotiating to approve the CoviVac vaccine in Southeast Asia and Central and South America. And we see that foreign countries show lots of interest in our jab. At the same time, we have just launched the third phase of clinical trials, therefore, it is too early to talk about the drug’s registration abroad. There are no specific agreements yet, including on the use of the vaccine developed at our center in South Korea, the Russian expert said.

Earlier, the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that it was launching a preliminary data review on the safety and efficiency of Russia’s CoviVac vaccine. The relevant information was published on the ministry’s website on Friday. Meanwhile, South Korea’s authorities are not yet planning to purchase the CoviVac jab.

CoviVac is a whole-virion vaccine. Jabs of this type use either artificially weakened viruses that are unable to cause disease, or viruses that have already been killed (inactivated).