“I am confident enough (in the safety of the vaccine. - RT) to inject it myself, my wife, my elderly parents,” Dmitriev said. 

He recalled that the Gamaleya Center had previously produced highly successful vaccines for Ebola and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

At the same time, Dmitriev added that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is similar in structure to the MERS virus.

The head of the RDIF stressed that in this way Russia has a scientific basis for the fight against coronavirus. 

He also noted that specialists will monitor those who will be vaccinated with the vaccine in the next few months.

Dmitriev added that the advantage of the Russian vaccine is that it provides for two injections and in the future will provide a stronger immune response.

In addition, Dmitriev said that Russia has received a total of requests from 20 countries for about 1 billion doses of the Russian vaccine against COVID-19.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the registration in the country of the first coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Center.

According to the Ministry of Health, it will go into civil circulation on January 1, 2021.