Sputnik V vaccine: Russian President Putin plans mass vaccinations against Covid-19 next week

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered authorities to begin mass vaccinations with the Sputnik V vaccine against the novel coronavirus from next week as the country recorded 589 new daily deaths from Covid-19.

"Let's agree on this - you will not report to me next week, but you will start mass vaccination ... let's get to work already," Putin reportedly told Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova.

Golikova said large-scale vaccination could begin on a voluntary basis in December, reports news agency Reuters.

Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko has said that over 100,000 people had already been vaccinated against Covid-19, as Moscow presented its Sputnik V vaccine to the United Nations over video link.

Teachers, medics will be the 1st to receive the jab

Putin reportedly told health officials to start widespread vaccinations next week, adding that Russia has produced close to 2 million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine.

The Russian President also said, "I would ask you to organise the work so that by the end of next week we will have started this large-scale vaccination." Putin noted that teachers and medics will be the first to receive the jab.

Putin's statement comes hours after the United Kingdom approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for use and said that it will be rolled out from early next week.

Earlier, Russia had announced that the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine has 95% efficacy. President Putin had ordered authorities to begin mass voluntary vaccinations next week.

Sputnik V -- named after the Soviet-era satellite -- is in its third and final stage of clinical trials involving some 40,000 volunteers.

Few days back, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) had announced commencement of adaptive Phase 2/3 clinical trials for Sputnik V in India after receiving necessary clearance from the Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh.

The rise in coronavirus cases has slowed since reaching a high on 27 November, with 25,345 new infections reported on Wednesday. Russia has resisted imposing lockdowns during the second wave of the virus, preferring targetted regional curbs.

With 2,347,401 cases, Russia has the fourth-largest number of coronavirus cases in the world behind the United States, India and Brazil. It has recorded 41,053 deaths related to Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.

Museums, theatres and concert halls would be closed to the public in St Petersburg of over 5 million people for the duration of Russia's New Year holidays, from 30 December to 10 January.

With agency inputs