MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Putin orders to begin mass voluntary vaccination against Covid-19 next week

Russia will have produced two million vaccine doses within the next few days, Vladimir Putin said

President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian authorities on Wednesday to begin mass voluntary vaccinations against Covid-19 next week as Russia recorded 589 new daily deaths from the coronavirus.

Russia will have produced two million vaccine doses within the next few days, Mr Putin said. Russia last month announced that its Sputnik V jab was 92% effective at protecting people from Covid-19 according to interim results.

“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,” Mr Putin told Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova.

Mr Golikova said large-scale vaccination could begin on a voluntary basis in December. The rise in infections has slowed since reaching a high on Nov 27, with 25,345 new cases reported on Wednesday.

Russia has resisted imposing lockdowns during the second wave of the virus, preferring targeted regional curbs.

With 2,347,401 infections, Russia has the fourth-largest number of Covid-19 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.

The Kremlin earlier gave assurances that Russians were first in line to be vaccinated, with Moscow also discussing supply deals with other countries.