Russia has started its vaccination program against Covid-19 this Saturday, with clinics in the capital Moscow vaccinating the groups considered to be at highest risk, according to the BBC.
The country is using its vaccine, Sputnik V, which was registered in August. Manufacturers say it is 95% effective and does not cause significant side effects, however mass testing is still going on, to ensure all issues.
Thousands of people have already signed up to receive the first of two injections this weekend, but it is still unclear how many doses Russia will be able to deliver in this first phase of vaccination. Manufacturers are expected to produce just two million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year, says BBC.
Moscow President Sergei Sobyanin, who announced the vaccination plan earlier this week, said the vaccine would initially be free for residents in the capital of 13 million, who work in schools and the health service, as well as assistants social. The official also revealed at the same time that the list may grow as more vaccines become available.
An online registration service allows city residents in the mentioned areas, aged between 18 and 60, to make free appointments at 70 locations across Moscow, so they can start the process.
This group excludes people who have received injections in the last 30 days or who have had respiratory diseases in the last two weeks, as well as those with certain chronic diseases and pregnant or breastfeeding women. Each person will receive two injections, the second 21 days after the first.
Russia currently records 2,410,642 confirmed cases of infection with the new coronavirus and still 42,228. This Saturday the country recorded a new daily high with 8,782 infections in the last 24 hours and 508 deaths. Moscow, the country’s main infection point, also registered a new daily high, with 7,993 new positive cases and 74 deaths.
Globally, the pandemic has already infected almost 66 million people, also causing 1.5 million fatalities, according to the official quote from Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
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