Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The authorities of Russia and Uzbekistan have agreed to localize the production of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the republic, the Uzbek side has already selected a site for the production of the drug, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told RIA Novosti on Friday.

“We agreed on the localization of production of Sputnik V (in Uzbekistan - ed.) In the framework of the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and the President of Uzbekistan,” Murashko said following the meeting.

The minister added that the Uzbek side has selected a production site for the production of the Russian vaccine, and the project is being developed.

The Uzbek authorities received the first batch of Sputnik V on April 23, and another on April 27.

Earlier, the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin in Kazan, asked Moscow to increase the supply of Sputnik V and consider the possibility of its production in the republic.

On 1 April, a campaign to vaccinate the population against coronavirus was launched in Uzbekistan. Now Uzbeks also receive vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine, a recombinant drug from the Chinese Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutica. More than 1.2 million people have already been vaccinated in the country.