Putin orders Russia to begin large-scale COVID-19 vaccinations next week

President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian authorities on Wednesday to begin mass voluntary vaccinations against COVID-19 next week as Russia recorded 589 new daily deaths from the coronavirus.

Russia will have produced 2 million vaccine doses within the next few days, Putin said. Russia said last month that its Sputnik V jab was 92 percent effective at protecting people from COVID-19 according to interim results.

“Let’s agree on this — you will not report to me next week, but you will start mass vaccination... Let’s get to work already,” Putin told Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova.

The president noted that teachers and medics will be the first to receive the jab. Golikova said large-scale vaccination could begin on a voluntary basis in December.

Last week, Russia’s defense ministry announced that a mass vaccination campaign has been rolled out in the army, aiming to inoculate over 400,000 servicemen, some 80,000 of them by the end of the year.

The rise in infections has slowed since reaching a high on November 27, with 25,345 new cases reported on Wednesday. Russia has resisted imposing lockdowns during the second wave of the virus, preferring targeted regional curbs. With 2,347,401 infections, Russia has the fourth-largest number of COVID-19 cases in the world behind the United States, India and Brazil. It has recorded 41,053 deaths related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

The Kremlin earlier gave assurances that Russians were first in line to be vaccinated, with Moscow also discussing supply deals with other countries.

“The absolute priority are Russians,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “Production within Russia, which is already being developed, will meet the needs of Russians.”

Authorities in St Petersburg, which reported 3,684 new infections on Wednesday, ordered bars and restaurants to close from December 30 until January 3, to combat the rise in cases there, the RIA news agency reported.