Uzbekistan plans to manufacture and export a COVID-19 vaccine after the third - final - stage of testing. the director of the Agency for Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare/First Deputy Minister of Health, Bakhodir Yusupaliev announced at a meeting of the International Press Club on September 25.

Earlier, two Chinese companies that have developed a coronavirus vaccine proposed to jointly conduct a third phase of trials in Uzbekistan. The Ministry of Innovative Development has signed agreements with Sinopharm and Zhifei Longcom.

“It is planned to attract vaccines from two Chinese companies to Uzbekistan and participate in the third phase of clinical trials [of these drugs]. Then the question of the production of these vaccines in our country will be raised, which will lead to a reduction in imports, moreover, we will be able to export them to neighboring countries,” he added.

According to him, Uzbekistan has also offered Russian companies to jointly test the Russian vaccine. “Today we are awaiting their response. I think we will work with them simultaneously,” he said.

As reported earlier, Uzbekistan had requested the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for 5,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. At the same time, RDIF announced that it had agreed with the pharmaceutical company Laxisam on the supply of up to 35 million doses of the vaccine to Uzbekistan.

Participation in the development and testing of a vaccine will have an impact on the development of science and open up wide opportunities for local scientists in this area, said Deputy Prime Minister for Social Development Behzod Musayev.

In August, it was reported that Uzbekistan had joined the World Health Organization's international vaccination program against the COVAX coronavirus.