ArmInfo.Armenia has not yet started the process of mass vaccination of the population, Spokesperson of RA Ministry of Health Hripsime Khachatryan told ArmInfo correspondent about this. According to her, the Armenian side is still at the stage of signing the documents, after the completion of the negotiations.
"We are doing everything in our power not to postpone the process, but a lot depends on our partners. We are at the stage of signing documents," she said.
At the same time, she informed that employees of medical institutions working with covid patients were vaccinated with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine donated to the Armenian side. It should be noted that as early as February 1 it became known that Armenia had registered the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. As reported by the press service of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the decision to approve the vaccine was made on the basis of data from phase III clinical trials in Russia without additional trials in Armenia.
It is also worth noting that the professional commission approved the use of three coronavirus vaccines in Armenia at once: Sputnik V, AstraZeneca and Pfizer. Armenia joined the COVAX FACILITY international initiative last year in order to purchase a vaccine against coronavirus, which aims to provide all interested countries with equal opportunities to purchase a vaccine available on the market.
For example, a vaccine was proposed developed by specialists from the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, which, judging by international reviews in the media, has a relatively low efficiency - 70%, the vaccine of the American-German joint production of Pfizer with an efficiency of 95%, the American Moderna with efficiency over 94%. In parallel, Armenia was negotiating the purchase of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
In total, 755,348 tests for coronavirus were carried out in Armenia, of which 175,198 citizens (23.2%) were diagnosed with the disease, 165,096 people (94.2%) recovered, the number of deaths reached 3,232 (1, 8%). 6,038 patients are currently receiving actual treatment in medical institutions in the country.