Russia to roll out registration process for COVID-19 vaccines

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the start of a large-scale registration program for COVID-19 vaccinations, local news agencies reported.

Moscow will begin the registration process this week and doctors, teachers, and social workers will be the first to get the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, the State-owned news outlet TASS reported Thursday.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a statement on Thursday: “Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has given an assignment to begin a large-scale vaccination against COVID next week. And first of all to provide the vaccine to the citizens in the risk group.”

According to the statement, vaccination stations will open on Friday.

“In coordination with the Russian government, in order to test out the enormous mechanism of a mass vaccination we are opening an electronic registration[process] for inoculation for educational workers, workers in the healthcare of all forms of property, as well as for workers of the city social services beginning on December 4, 2020,” Sobyanin stated.

He added that more people would be inoculated as large quantities of the vaccine will arrive in the next few weeks.

Reuters reported that the Sputnik V, one of two Russian-made vaccines to have received domestic regulatory approval so far despite clinical trials being incomplete, requires two injections. A third vaccine is also on the cards.