Russia: Putin should announce when Sputnik V will be applied

The Russian government on Saturday approved the use of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for people over the age of 60 and, according to official sources, President Vladimir Putin (68) will “announce himself” when he does. will apply.

“The Ministry of Health has approved changes in the instructions for use of the drug and the Sputnik V vaccine has been approved for all people over the age of 18,” Minister of this portfolio Mikhail Murashko told the state television Russia 24.

“Thus, citizens over the age of 60 will also be able to be vaccinated against the coronavirus,” said the official.

The approval was announced after the Nikolai Gamaleya Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology confirmed on Friday that it had verified the vaccine’s effectiveness for those over 60.

Until now, this vaccine, which began to be used extensively on December 15, was only applied to people between the ages of 18 and 60.

Murashko pointed out that, as the Gamaleya Center said yesterday, the latest studies have determined that Sputnik V does not produce adverse effects in those over 60 years old.

“Clinical analyzes have been made on the use of the Sputnik V vaccine in people over 60 years of age and experts have confirmed its safety and effectiveness,” the minister said, according to the Russian Sputnik news agency.

Last week, Putin, 68, told a press conference that he would not yet be vaccinated because Sputnik V had yet to be proven for people in his age group.

“I follow the recommendations of our specialists and that is why so far I have not had the vaccine, but I will do it without fail when possible”, then declared the president.

Following Murashko’s announcement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin “will make himself known” when the vaccine is administered.

These statements by Putin sparked controversy, mainly in Argentina, the first foreign country to authorize the Sputnik V vaccine last Wednesday, a day before the arrival of the first 300,000 doses by plane in Buenos Aires.

Meanwhile, in Russia, many people complained via social media because Moscow overwhelmingly supplied the vaccine to other countries before its own citizens.

In response, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that the government would provide nearly 6.5 million doses of Sputnik V to its medical centers between January and February 2021.

“Our mission now is to increase the production volume of the coronavirus vaccine to supply all regions of our country,” he said.

Sputnik V has shown an efficiency of 91.4% according to the Russian government, data which, according to the director of the Gamaleya center, Alexandr Gintsburg, “allows us to say with certainty that it is highly effective and completely safe for health. “.

The Russian health authority on August 11 registered the Sputnik V vaccine, which it produces in cooperation with the Russian Fund for Direct Investments.

The vaccine consists of two components: the first is based on human adenovirus type 26, and the second is based on recombinant human adenovirus type 5.

It is given in two doses, to be given with an interval of 21 days, and so far, workers in healthcare, commerce, education, industry, transport, media and social services were allowed to receive it in Russia.

Russia is the fourth country with the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases accumulated – it has passed the three million barrier -, behind the United States, India and Brazil, and the ninth with the highest number of deaths from the disease, according to the American Johns Hopkins University online database.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 3,021,964 infections (29,258 detected in the last 24 hours), of which 541,299 people had an active infection, 2,426,439 have already been cured and 54,226 have died (587 in the last day), reported today the national operational center for the fight against the coronavirus.

Likewise, the National Consumer Protection Office (Rospotrebnadzor) reported that to date, more than 88.6 million tests for Covid-19 have been performed, of which around 511,000 have been carried out in the past 24 hours. , and that more than 654,000 people remained under medical surveillance. suspected of having contracted the disease.