RUSSIANS TO GET SPUTNIK V VACCINES BETWEEN 9 MONTHS AND A YEAR

The head of the N. F. Gamaleya Federal Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Alexander Ginzburg hopes that Russians will get full access to the novel coronavirus vaccine developed by the center between nine and 12 months.

Ginzburg’s disclosure shatters the claim of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte that the much-touted Russian vaccine Sputnik V would be available to him and the rest of the Filipino people by December 2020.

"It is important to understand when we will be able to meet the demand of the country. I hope that it will happen within 9-12 months," Ginzburg told the Russian news agency TASS on August 15, 2020.

Earlier, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said during a session with Russian President Vladimir Putin that medical workers and teachers would be the first to get the vaccine. The head of the Gamaleya Research Center noted that the amount of vaccine doses will be enough to vaccinate the first groups of the population. Ginzburg said the vaccine would first be supplied to 10-15 regions of the country but did not specify where.