Lugansk People’s Republic health centers will vaccinate the population against COVID-19 with the Russian Sputnik Light vaccine at scheduled appointments, LPR Healthcare Minister Natalia Paschenko said at a press briefing at the Lugansk Media Centre.
“To prevent the rush, health centers across the Republic will offer vaccination through booking in advance,” Paschenko said.
LPR medics have already inoculated a large number of people within certain groups that are particularly exposed to the risk of contacting or spreading the coronavirus infection due to their occupation, she said.
“We’re going to vaccinate both designated groups of the population and the residents wishing to get the vaccine,” the minister said adding that the vaccination was “absolutely voluntary.”
A batch of the Russian Sputnik Light vaccine was delivered to Lugansk on Wednesday evening.
LPR Head Leonid Pasechnik said that every resident could register for one-dose vaccine starting Thursday.
The World Health Organization called the COVID-19 coronavirus infection a pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus. The first coronavirus infection cases were recorded in China in late 2019. The number of coronavirus contacts across the world has exceeded 195.2 million by now; of those, over 4.1 million people died, according to the WHO. The LPR confirmed 6,463 COVID-19 cases.
To prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection, the LPR authorities have put the Republic on high alert and introduced lockdown measures.*i*t