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Russia to supply Sputnik V batch to Kyrgyzstan by late April, says health ministry

Kyrgyzstan is now ironing out the technical issues related to delivering the first batch of Sputnik V to Bishkek in order to inoculate 15,000 people

BISHKEK, April 14. /TASS/. Russia will supply the batch of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to Kyrgyzstan by the end of this month, the Central Asian republic’s Ministry of Health and Social Development told TASS on Wednesday.

"Russia has given the green light to our request <...>," a spokesperson for the ministry said. Now talks are underway with Russia on Kyrgyzstan’s purchase of another batch of the vaccine.

Kyrgyzstan is now ironing out the technical issues related to delivering the first batch of Sputnik V to Bishkek in order to inoculate 15,000 people. The vaccine was registered in Kyrgyzstan in February 2021.

On March 19, Kyrgyzstan received the first 150,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm jab and began vaccinations on March 29. Some 3,800 people have received the first dose of the drug. Late last year, Bishkek sent a request to Moscow for the Sputnik V jab and it is expected to be supplied to the Central Asian nation soon. Kyrgyzstan expects to get another 2.6 mln doses of different vaccines as part of the COVAX mechanism.

Kyrgyzstan, home to nearly 6.5 mln citizens, has experienced two outbreaks of the coronavirus disease over the past year. The first one was recorded at the end of last June, when healthcare workers were registering 900-1,600 cases of the infection daily. The second one occurred at the end of last year when the number of new infections amounted to about 300 cases per day. The state of emergency declared in the country in March 2020 still remains in effect.