DONETSK, January 31. /TASS/. The first batch of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine has been delivered to Donetsk, the Health Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic announced on Sunday.

"The batch of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine has been delivered to Donetsk," the Donetsk News Agency quoted a spokesperson as saying.

Earlier, the DPR’s Health Ministry stated that people who are most at risk from COVID-19 would get the vaccine on a priority basis. The vaccination will be available for free. Furthermore, it will be held at 32 points located in Donetsk, Makeyevka, Gorlovka, Yenakiievo, Torez, Shakhtyorsk, the Amvrosiyevsky and Novoazovsky districts.

On August 11, 2020, Russia was the first in the world to register a coronavirus vaccine, named Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. According to the research institute, more than 50 countries have applied for purchasing the vaccine.