Uzbekistan Certifies Russia's Sputnik V Vaccine For Mass Use - Health Authorities

Uzbekistan has certified Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for nationwide use, seeking to procure 1 million doses, the country's COVID-19 task force said on Wednesday

TASHKENT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2021) Uzbekistan has certified Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for nationwide use, seeking to procure 1 million doses, the country's COVID-19 task force said on Wednesday.

Last week, Botir Kurbanov, a senior official in the Uzbek health and sanitary watchdog, told Sputnik that Tashkent began a fast-track certification of the Russian vaccine, which would likely take from 15-20 days.

"The Sputnik V vaccine, which was developed by Russia's Gamaleya science center, has been certified and approved for mass use in Uzbekistan," the task force said in a statement, published by state-run news agency UzA.

According to the press release, the task force is currently making efforts to procure 1 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine.

On Tuesday, the Uzbek health and sanitary authority said that the national vaccination campaign has been set to launch by mid-March and cover 7 million people � 20 percent of Uzbekistan's population � by the year-end. The initial plan was to vaccinate up to 60 percent of the population by June of this year.

The country has already ordered 15 million vaccine doses from available suppliers globally, including via the COVAX facility.