TVER, January 2. /TASS/. More than 1.5 mln doses of vaccine against coronavirus were delivered to the regions of Russia as part of a large-scale vaccination of the population, Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko told reporters on Saturday.

"Today, more than 1.5 mln [doses] have been introduced into the civilian circulation of vaccines and delivered to the Russian regions. Vaccination is very active," the minister said.

Murashko added that over 800,000 residents of Russia have already been vaccinated against coronavirus as part of a large-scale vaccination. "Taking into account all data, more than 800,000 people have been vaccinated,"he said. Murashko stressed that vaccination is in progress among Russian citizens over 60 years old.

On December 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin set the task of organizing vaccination against coronavirus throughout the country. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin added that vaccination should be "completely voluntary and free." The vaccine should be first administered to teachers, doctors, and social workers. At the same time, the regions can expand this list.

It was reported earlier that the number of coronavirus cases in Russia rose by 26,301 to 3,212,637 in the past 24 hours. According to data from the crisis center, the coronavirus growth rate has dropped to 0.8%. There are currently 555,600 active coronavirus cases in Russia.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.