LPR receives first shipment of Russian Sputnik V vaccine - Pasechnik

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LUGANSK, February 1 (Lugansk Media Centre) – First shipment of Russian anti-COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in the LPR, Republic's Head Leonid Pasechnik said.

"The first shipment of the Sputnik V vaccine arrived to the LPR over the week-end," he said.

"We expect regular shipments in the future to immunize the population and establish herd immunity."

"Thanks to the highly appreciated aid of the Russian Federation, our Republic is now able to embark on the free and voluntary vaccination of all the residents, those in risk categories in the first place," Pasechnik said.

The first categories to receive the vaccine shots are health workers and law enforcement officers.

The World Health Organisation called the COVID-19 coronavirus infection a pandemic. The first coronavirus infection cases were recorded in China in late 2019. The number of coronavirus contacts across the world has exceeded 101.9 million by now; of those, over 2.2 million people have died. Earlier, the LPR confirmed 2,624 COVID-19 cases.

Sputnik V is the world’s first registered vaccine based on a well-studied human adenoviral vector-based platform. Vaccine’s efficacy is confirmed at 91.4%. The vaccine is named after the first Soviet space satellite. The launch of Sputnik-1 in 1957 reinvigorated space research around the world, creating a so called “Sputnik moment” for the global community. Currently there are over 200 different COVID-19 vaccines under development around the world.