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Coronavirus pandemic

Putin: Belarus will be one of the first countries to receive Russian coronavirus vaccine

The president ordered Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova to finalize the work with Belarusian partners

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

NOVO-OGARYOVO, August 26. /TASS/. Belarus will be one of the first countries to receive Russia’s coronavirus vaccine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with cabinet members on Wednesday.

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Putin, Lukashenko discuss Belarus’ participation in Russian anti-COVID vaccine tests

According to Putin, he has discussed the matter with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. "We <...> agreed that Belarus would join the final phase of additional trials of our vaccine and would become one of the first countries to receive the vaccine," Putin pointed out.

The president ordered Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova to finalize the work with Belarusian partners.

The Belarusian news agency BelTA reported earlier that the two countries’ presidents had agreed that Belarus would become the first country to receive the Russian coronavirus vaccine and Belarusian volunteers would participate in the third phase of the vaccine’s clinical trials on a voluntary basis.

On August 11, Russia became the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, which was named Sputnik V. The vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and underwent clinical trials in June and July. It was created on a platform that had been used for the development of a number of other vaccines.

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