On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the health authorities to start from the end of next week a "large-scale" vaccination campaign against the emerging coronavirus in Russia.
The decision came hours after Britain declared general use for Pfizer- BioNTech's vaccine starting next week.
Putin said, "I ask you to organize efforts so that we will start at the end of next week with large-scale vaccination," addressing the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of health, Tatyana Golikova, in a video conference, noting that "the industry and the infrastructure are ready."
Putin announced that about 2 million Sputnik V doses have already been produced or will be produced within the upcoming days, allowing the teachers and doctors to have the two-dose jabs.
"Let’s make a deal: Don’t report to me but start large-scale vaccination next week,” he told Golikova, who cautiously promised, “there’s a chance for large-scale vaccination in December."
Putin said during the meeting on Covid-19, "I understand that we need to be careful, but I know that the network and the industry are ready."
Russia was the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine in August despite Sputnik V's incomplete clinical trials. Its developers have since lauded a 95% efficacy rate based on interim results of Phase 3 trials.
It's noteworthy that Today, the Special Operations Room to combat the spread of the Coronavirus in Russia announced in its daily report that 25,345 new infections were detected during the last 24 hours, compared to 26,402 the previous day, which represents the lowest number since November 25, when 23,675 cases were recorded.
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