Belarus announced Tuesday, December 29 the launch of its vaccination campaign against the new coronavirus with the arrival in the country of the first batch of Russian vaccines Sputnik V.
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"
The first batch of vaccine arrived today in Belarus,
" the Ministry of Health of the former Soviet republic said in a statement, announcing "
the start of vaccination of the Belarusian population
."
"
The first to be vaccinated will be medical workers, teachers and specialists who, due to the peculiarities of their profession, often have to be in contact with people,
" said Minister of Health Dmitri Pinevitch, adding that vaccination “
Will be done on a voluntary basis
”.
Russian and Belarusian authorities did not say how many doses had been sent.
Belarus was the first foreign country to license Russia's Sputnik V vaccine on its territory in December.
Clinical trials were carried out there from October 1.
"
Today, Belarus has also become the first country after Russia to start vaccinating its population with Sputnik V,
" Kirill Dmitriev, director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said in a statement, involved in the financing of the vaccine.
Called "
Sputnik V
" in homage to the first satellite launched by the USSR in 1957, the Russian vaccine had been greeted with skepticism internationally in the face of an announcement deemed premature, in August, even before the start of mass clinical trials ( phase 3) and the publication of scientific results.
Batches of Sputnik V have nevertheless been sent in recent days to Argentina and Hungary and Moscow hopes to have "
millions of doses
"
by next year
.
Russia began vaccinating its population in early December with workers at risk and occupations deemed "
priority
".
Vaccination for over 60s begins on Tuesday.
