Coronavirus: Vladimir Putin orders mass vaccinations to begin in Russia
- The president says teachers and doctors should be first in line to get the country’s Sputnik V shot, in a voluntary programme starting next week
- Russia will have produced 2 million vaccine doses within the next few days, Putin says
President Vladimir Putin ordered a large-scale voluntary vaccination programme against Covid-19 to begin next week across Russia, saying teachers and doctors should be first in line to get the country’s flagship Sputnik V vaccine.
Putin gave the order during an online meeting with ministers on Wednesday, a day when Russia, which has the fourth highest number of recorded infections in the world, registered 589 new daily deaths from the coronavirus.
Putin said Russia will have produced 2 million vaccine doses within the next few days.
Sputnik V – one of two Russian-made vaccines to have received domestic regulatory approval so far despite clinical trials being incomplete – requires two injections. A third vaccine is in also in the works.
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Russia approves ‘world’s first’ Covid-19 vaccine, President Vladimir Putin says
Russia said last month that the Sputnik jab was 92 per cent effective at protecting people from Covid-19 according to interim results.