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Belarus waiting for Russia to approve 180,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses for use

MINSK, 10 June (BelTA) – The Belarusian Healthcare Ministry is waiting for Russia to greenlight the use of 180,000 doses of the second component of the COVID-19 vaccine, BelTA learned from the press service of the ministry.

At present, Russia is finishing the procedure to check the quality of the vaccine produced at the Belarusian pharmaceutical company Belmedpreparaty. It is expected that the vaccine will be made available by end of the week.

More than 656,000 Belarusians have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Over 358,000 of them have already got two shots.

At present, Belarus has more than 150,000 doses of the first component and more than 30,000 doses of the second one. On 9 June, some polyclinics of Minsk reported that they had run out of the second component. In view of this, the remaining doses will be redistributed among healthcare facilities on 10 June, the Healthcare Ministry noted. The vaccination period depends on supplies of the vaccine (or its production) after the quality control.

The first and the second vaccination stages are currently underway in Belarus. Vaccines have been administered to almost everyone who applied for vaccination, people working in healthcare, pharmaceutical industry, education, social workers, and adults living in 24/7 care homes. Vaccines are also given to people whose jobs place them in contact with many people and population groups who are most likely to develop severe forms of the disease: 60+ people and persons with chronic diseases.

The interval between two doses of the Russian Gam-COVID-Vac (Sputnik V) vaccine can be from 21 to 90 days, the Healthcare Ministry pointed out.

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