MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has administered at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to almost 17 million people, the RIA news agency cited Health Minister Mikhail Murashko as saying on Thursday.
The figure suggests Russia has given the first dose of one of its vaccines to about 3 million people in the past two weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on May 12 that 14 million Russians had received one vaccine dose.
Some of Russia’s regions have complained that the vaccination process is not going fast enough despite the country having begun rolling out its Sputnik V shot back in December.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin lamented last week how few residents had chosen to get vaccinated despite free and easy access to shots since January.
This week officials in the region of Yakutia ordered all employers to organise COVID-19 vaccines for their employees in a bid to speed up inoculation.
Russia has approved four vaccines for domestic use, of which the most widely used is Sputnik V. It is administered in two doses, with a gap of 21 days between each shot.
(Reporting by Polina Nikolskaya; editing by Tom Balmforth)
