COVID-19: Russia to supply over 1 million Sputnik V doses across country by 2020 end

Russia has said that more than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine will have reached its national vaccination programme by the end of 2020. Industry Minister Denis Manturov, while speaking to state television, said that home-grown Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine is currently being produced at full pace and so far more than 2 million shots have already been rolled out from the production centres. Manturov added that by the end of 2020, over 1 million doses of vaccine will have reached the vaccination centres across the country. 

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Concern at home over foreign supply

Manturov also said that the current production rate will also allow Russia to export the vaccine and at the same time distribute it at home. Russia on December 24 supplied the first batch of 3,00,000 doses to Argentina, which is part of the total supply volume of 10 million doses agreed between the Argentinian government and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). This had sparked concerns in Russia regarding the supply of vaccine at home as people argued that more jabs should be made available as soon as possible. 

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Now, Manturov has assured people that the production rate of the vaccine will allow Russia to keep both, domestic and international demands, sustained. Russia has also signed an agreement with Bolivia to supply the country with 2.6 million doses of Sputnik V, which it claims is the world's first registered COVID-19 vaccine. Russia has also supplied Belarus with Sputnik V vaccine. 

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Earlier this month, Russia began the vaccination drive in capital Moscow on the instruction of President Vladimir Putin. Elderly and essential frontline workers have been prioritised to receive the Sputnik V vaccine, which Russia claims is more than 90 percent effective. Russia says that the vaccine is based on a reliable, safe and well-researched human adenoviral vector platform and is administered in two doses with a gap of 21 days between each shot.  

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