Photo by Elly Fairytale from Pexels
More than half a million people in Moscow have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine or about 4% of its population. Now, Russia is aiming to both ramp up domestic vaccinations and exports of its Sputnik V vaccine.
Moscow has been one of the few cities that has had a surplus of COVID-19 vaccine.
Now, some 12,000 to 20,000 residents sign up daily for the vaccines, according to the Department of Information Technologies of Moscow.
The Russian capital has a population of 12.7 million.
The country’s two-dose Sputnik V vaccine has an efficacy of 91.6%, according to interim trial results.
Moscow is administering the vaccines with a network of 100 clinics and 20 public places with mobile vaccinators.
A growing number of categories of Moscow residents are eligible for the vaccine, which includes people over the age of 60, retirement-home residents and university students.
Sputnik V vaccine
Many large companies based in the city have requested on-site vaccination for their staff.
Russia was one of the first countries to announce a widescale vaccination program.
In January, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said he expected at least 60% of the country’s population to be vaccinated by the middle of the year.
As in many parts of the world, COVID-19 cases have fallen considerably in Russia in the first two months of 2021.
Russia is also working to make its COVID-19 vaccine available to other countries. As of Feb. 19, some 50 countries had ordered 1.2 billion doses of the Sputnik V vaccine.
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