He said the vaccine will be given to the domestic market first to cover Russian people’s needs and then Russia will be ready to produce vaccines abroad.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund, which funds technology and medicine exports, will soon be producing the vaccine in other countries, Murashko said.

The first vaccine will be expensive, according to Aleksei Repik, the head of Russia’s R-pham Company. He told the Rossia-24 media agency that the vaccine will be cheaper once production reaches industrial volume.