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Coronavirus pandemic

Sputnik Light vaccine should be used for revaccination or after COVID, expert says

Currently, slightly more than 50 million people are vaccinated against COVID in Russia

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. The use of the single-component vaccine Sputnik Light is advisable for revaccination or the vaccination of those who have already had COVID, the Russian Health Ministry's Chief Independent Expert on Infectious Diseases Vladimir Chulanov said on Tuesday.

"It is advisable to use the Sputnik Light drug not for primary vaccination, but for revaccination or the vaccination of those who have previously contracted the disease. Still, for primary vaccination, for those who have not contracted the disease, it is recommended to use two-component vaccines," he said at an internet conference.

Chulanov added that to date slightly more than 50 million people are vaccinated against COVID in Russia, but this is not enough to form "reliable herd immunity."

"Some regions are the leaders here, in some regions [immune] coverage has reached almost 70%, but some regions still have rather low coverage, where the numbers still do not even exceed 30%," he said.

Earlier, Russia’s Health Ministry Minister Mikhail Murashko said his ministry was working on a new version of the guidelines on vaccination. In the updated document Sputnik Light will be recommended to Russians only as a booster, while other drugs registered in the country will be offered for the primary course. Later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Sputnik Light could be used both for vaccination against COVID and for revaccination. He noted that Murashko's words were taken out of context.

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