12/26/2020 1:55 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 12/26/2020 1:55 PM
The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, will communicate himself when he is vaccinated against the coronavirus, after the country authorized this Saturday immunization for those over 60 with the Sputnik V vaccine. On Friday, the Nikolai Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Gamaleya confirmed the effectiveness of the drug for that age group, after doubts and controversy during the first days of vaccination in that country.
"He will make it known himself," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told Russia's Sputnik news agency.
The spokesman made this statement after learning that the Russian Ministry of Health approved the use of Sputnik V in people over 60 years of age, which since last December 15 was applied only to people between 18 and 60 years old in the country.
As reported on Friday by the Gamaleya Center, which develops the serum, the portfolio indicated that the latest clinical trials tested "the safety and efficacy" of the immunizer for people over 60 years of age.
The director of the Gamaleya Center, Alexandr Gintsburg, said that the specialists had not detected new side effects in the elderly vaccinated with Sputnik V.
The Russian-made vaccine against the coronavirus raised doubts about its side effects in people over 60.
Photo: REUTERS
Last week, the Russian president explained in his annual press conference that he had not yet been vaccinated because his age, 68, did not allow it, but that he planned to do so "without fail" when possible.
This aroused
suspicion
in some countries interested in acquiring the Russian vaccine, such as Argentina, the first country to register Sputnik V on December 23, when the plane arrived with the first doses.
On social media, many Russians complained that Moscow massively supplies the vaccine to other countries rather than to its own citizens.
In response, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced on Friday that the government will supply nearly 6.5 million doses of Sputnik V to its medical centers in January and February 2021.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at a Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine production center near St. Petersburg on Friday.
Photo: AFP
"Our mission now is to increase the volume of production of the vaccine against coronavirus to supply all regions of our country," he said.
Sputnik V showed an
efficacy of 91.4%
in the last control carried out in the third phase of clinical trials, data that, according to Gintsburg, "allow us to affirm with certainty that (Sputnik V) is highly effective and totally safe for health ".
The mass vaccination campaign in Russia began in early December, although authorities in other countries have warned that the verification process for the drug has not been as strict as for other vaccines.
With 29,258 positives detected in the last 24 hours, Russia already has 3,021,964 cases of Covid-19 and ranks fourth in the world, behind the United States, India and Brazil, by number of infections.
In addition, another 567 deaths were registered, which raised the number of deaths in the country to 54,226 since the start of the pandemic.
Source: DPA and EFE
CB
Look also
Russia authorized Sputnik V vaccination of those over 60
Coronavirus: the President and the governors meet to adjust details of the vaccination plan
