First batch of Russian COVID-19 vaccine to be released within 14 days: Russian Minister of Health

Russia’s Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko said on Wednesday that the first batches of the Russian coronavirus vaccine will be released within two weeks.

Medical workers will be the first ones to receive the shot, he explained, but noted that the vaccination will be a voluntary process.

The Russian market will be the focal point of vaccine production in its initial stages, the official also revealed.

Reuters reported that the minister rejected as “groundless” the safety concerns aired by some experts over Moscow’s rapid approval of the drug.

“It seems our foreign colleagues are sensing the specific competitive advantages of the Russian drug and are trying to express opinions that in our opinion are completely groundless,” Murashko said.

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced that Russia has registered the world’s first coronavirus vaccine named ‘Sputnik V’.

 The president said that one of his daughters had tested the drug on herself.

He says the dose is effective in forming immunity against the deadly pathogen which has spread globally.

“I know that it works rather effectively, forms a stable immunity and, I repeat, it passed all the necessary inspections,” the president added, according to RT.

Putin asked Health Minister Mikhail Murashko to provide more detailed information about the plans for immunization. He said it is hoped that the Russian vaccine will go into general circulation by January, but in the meantime medical workers and teachers will be given priority.

Hamda Mustafa