Sputnik V COVID-19 shot now available for high-risk groups in Russia's Moscow city

Russia on Saturday started mass vaccination drive of its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in Moscow city, where high-risk groups will receive jabs across 70 stations. Doctors, teachers and other frontline workers have been streamlined to receive the jab starting December 5. According to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, residents can make appointments online to receive the coronavirus vaccine. Sobyanin said that 5,000 people have already signed up for the vaccination programme. 

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Procedure to get vaccinated

The vaccination drive will see people aged between 18 to 60 years line up at vaccination centres every day from 8 am to 8 pm in order to get the shot. Children, people with underlying health conditions, pregnant and breastfeeding women have been left out of the vaccination drive due to lack of data regarding the effects of COVID-19 vaccines in these groups. People taking appointments for the vaccine must make sure that there is a gap of at least 30 days between Sputnik V and any other vaccines they might have taken lately such as flu jab.

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Sputnik V will be administered in two doses with a gap of 21 days between each injection. People have been mandated to carry a passport, health insurance policy and an employer's certificate to prove that they belong to one of the professions prioritised by the authorities. Signing-up for the first shot of the vaccine will be enough as doctors themselves will follow-up with the patients for the second shot. Patients will receive an SMS-alert after signing up for the vaccination programme online where they will be provided with their appointment details. 

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The entire vaccination procedure will take up to an hour, including 15 minutes required to unfreeze the vaccine and 10 minutes for an examination by the doctor. Patients will have to wait at the clinic for about 30 minutes after receiving the shot following which they will be examined again by the doctor. The list of people entitled to revive the vaccine jab will be expanded in the future once more stock of Sputnik V is available. 

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