CHISINAU, September 3./TASS/. Moldovan President Igor Dodon plans to be vaccinated against the coronavirus while on a visit to Rusisa in September-October, as well as to agree on the supply of the first batch of the coronavirus vaccine to Moldova.
"If I go there, I am planning to be vaccinated. I will ask the Russians for this. Mass vaccination has been launched there, many leaders and parliamentarians get vaccinated," Dodon said in an interview with Radio Free Europe’s Moldovan service in comments on a possible trip to Russia.
In reply to a journalist’s question about a US vaccine, Dodon said that he had made the decision not to wait for options. "I have more trust in a Russian vaccine than in an American one. We were part of this medical system, it was among the best," the president explained.
If Moldova manages to get a batch of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, it will be distributed for free first of all among the medics, and also among those in the risk group, he added. Dodon also pledged that people would be vaccinated on a voluntary basis with no money charged.
To date, the epidemiological situation in Moldova remains difficult. On Thursday, the country reported another daily high of 636 COVID-19 cases. Overall, 38,372 people have been infected (1% of the population). A state of emergency in the healthcare sector has been extended until September 15, which implies entry restrictions for foreign nationals, a ban on mass events with the participation of more than 50 people and compulsory mask wearing in public spaces.
On August 11, Russia became the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, which was named Sputnik V. The vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology underwent clinical trials in June and July. It is based on a platform that was used to create some other vaccines. On August 15, the Russian Health Ministry said that its production had begun.