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Coronavirus pandemic

Russian Embassy in Turkey launches vaccination with Sputnik V

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Alexei Yerkhov was the first one to get the shot

ANKARA, April 21. /TASS/. Inoculation of staff of the Russian Embassy in Turkey with the Sputnik V preparation began in Ankara on Wednesday, the diplomatic mission told journalists.

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Foreign embassies show interest in Sputnik V, diplomats from 12 missions vaccinated

"On April 21, the embassy launched inoculation of staff of the diplomatic mission. The personnel is inoculated with the Russian Gam-COVID-Vac preparation, widely known as Sputnik V, developed by Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology," the embassy said. "Among the first ones to get a jab was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Turkey Alexei Yerkhov," the mission informed.

After the procedure, the ambassador "expressed satisfaction that [the staff of] the diplomatic institution had an opportunity to get inoculated with the domestic preparation," as well as thanked the medical personnel of Ankara’s Baskent Hospital for assistance. "The ambassador expressed hope that soon the Russian vaccine will be approved in Turkey as well, which would allow wide circles of Turkish society to gain access to this Russian product that had proven its effectiveness and had already been approved in 61 countries," the diplomatic mission emphasized.

Inoculation with the first dose of the two-component Gam-COVID-Vac vaccine of employees of Russian institutions abroad will be conducted in several stages and will be completed next week.

On January 23, a representative of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) told TASS that an agreement had been reached on production of Sputnik V in Turkey with a leading Turkish manufacturer of pharmaceutical products. According to the representative, the technology transfer process was launched. On January 25, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VisCoran Ilac Sanayii A. S., a Turkish pharmaceutical producer, Ozturk Oran in an interview with the Demiroren News Agency said that his company was ready to produce millions of doses of Sputnik after the transfer of relevant technologies between the two countries.

The Russian Sputnik V vaccine has already been registered by regulators of about 60 countries with the total population surpassing 1.5 bln people. Over 30 countries have already launched mass inoculation with Sputnik V. The efficacy of the preparation at the level of 91.6% was confirmed by the data published in the leading medical journal The Lancet.

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