MASS CORONAVIRUS VACCINATION CAMPAIGN BEGINS IN RUSSIA

18 JAN 2021

MOSCOW: A mass coronavirus vaccination campaign begins in Russia on Monday, Russian News Agency (TASS) reported.

It said Russians who are willing to be vaccinated can choose between two vaccines, Sputnik V and EpiVacCorona.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Jan 13 handed down instructions to move from large-scale vaccination of at-risk groups to mass vaccination.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said that about 2.1 million coronavirus vaccine doses would be released for civil distribution before the end of January, it added.

Head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova emphasised the need to carry out a vaccination campaign in a way to make sure that herd immunity formed before the fall season. According to her, 60 percent of the country’s population needs to be vaccinated this year.

Two coronavirus vaccines have been registered in Russia so far. The Sputnik V vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and EpiVacCorona was created by the Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector.

A vaccine made by the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune-and-Biological Products is going through clinical trials. -Bernama