Sputnik V: nearly half of those vaccinated in Moscow …

Russian authorities reported on Tuesday that Nearly half of those who received the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Moscow are people over 60.

“42 percent, or almost half, of those who have received Covid-19 vaccines at the city’s medical centers are people over the age of 60,” said deputy mayor of the Russian capital Anastasía Rákova. And he underlined this percentage because “it is the main group at risk, since it is the elderly who most often suffer from Covid-19 in a serious way”.

In addition, the official thanked the elderly citizens for “being responsible for their health, getting vaccinated against the coronavirus and protecting themselves and their loved ones”.

It should be noted that weeks ago the Russian Federation authorized the use of the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus in people over 60 years old. Russian Minister of Health, Mikhail Murashko, assured that the latest studies confirmed that the use of the vaccine developed by the National Center of Gamaleya does not represent “any risk” for the elderly. With that, the discussion with some media that misinterpreted President Vladimir Putin’s words on whether the doses of Sputnik V were going to be administered has been settled.

Moscow began the coronavirus vaccination campaign on December 5. Currently, 70 vaccination centers are operating in the Russian capital and by January 14 their number will increase to 100, according to the authorities.

Last week Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said 800,000 Russians had been vaccinated and 1.5 million doses distributed nationwide.

Sputnik V in the world

Russian authorities have stressed that the Sputnik V vaccine has already been applied to 1.5 million people worldwide. Arseni Palaguin, spokesperson for the Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF, gave this figure without detailing the distribution of people vaccinated by country.

“We cannot say how many received it in Russia and how many in the rest of the world,” Palaguin said, noting that, in addition to Russia, vaccines are administered in Argentina and Belarus.

Epidemiological situation

Russia has recorded 22,934 new coronavirus positives and 531 deaths in the past 24 hours, the national operational center for the fight against the virus reported.

Most of the new infections were detected in the Russian capital (5,001), St. Petersburg (2,731) and Moscow province (1,083).

With these numbers, Russia has accumulated 3,448,203 infected and 62,804 deaths from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.