Tatarstan starts COVID-19 vaccination campaign: nearly 200,000 people to be vaccinated

If you want a jab, “be active”, call your GP

It is planned to inoculate nearly 200,000 people against coronavirus in Tatarstan until February 2021, claimed first vice head of the republic’s Ministry of Health Care Almir Abashev. Now the republic has received only 2,900 doses of the vaccine that are offered at 56 sites, however, Tatarstan hopes to get 190,000 doses till the end of February (probably they mean Sputnik V, the only vaccine that was commercially launched in Tatarstan).

“2,900 vaccines are a drop in the ocean, but 190,000 is already significant, this can help protect the population from coronavirus,” Abashev claimed. According to Abashev, these 190,000 doses will be distributed the way the 2,900 vaccines are distributed now: doctors and teachers, social workers, people who work in the transport sphere, volunteers will be vaccinated first as well as people from the risk group with a chronic disease, including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes. The list of such people is already created on the basis of data of check-ups.”

Almir Abashev: “2,900 vaccines are a drop in the ocean, but 190,000 is already significant, this can help protect the population from coronavirus”

Abashev even criticised the latter because they aren’t being active enough when it comes to vaccination.

“Citizens should be actively and reach out to their GP to express their desire to be on the list of people who are vaccinated first. Unfortunately, we see the population’s insufficient activity, there is some distrust of vaccination. This is a misbelief, I and most specialists think. I would like to address all citizens: we need to vaccinate our residents until February, and this work is quite a serious challenge for us,” the vice head of the Health Care Ministry of the republic claimed.

Even those who already recovered from COVID-19 should receive the vaccine

Vice Chairwoman of the regional office of Russia’s consumer rights protection watchdog Lyubov Avdonina added that at the moment Tatarstan successfully completed one vaccination campaign, against the flu. It became possible to reach the bar of 60% of residents in the republic who were vaccinated. Now, Avdonina says, Tatarstan health workers are ready to start a fully-fledged vaccination campaign against coronavirus. At the same time, Avdonina reminded us: it is preferable to wait for a month between a vaccine against the flu and coronavirus.

While Abashev recommended those who already recovered from coronavirus, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, to vaccinate.

“Even those people who recovered from the coronavirus infection lose immunity. We see it in research on immune status <...>, immunity goes down, and these people should be vaccinated again, while scripts of the meeting with coronavirus haven’t been sufficiently studied at the moment. This is why those who were ill six months ago should also receive the vaccine.”

In this case, Abashev says, a patient should tell doctors he already recovered from the disease before vaccination. Then vaccination will take place not immediately, after learning the immune status. If the level of anti-bodies is high, one shouldn’t vaccinate. If the level is low, one should vaccinate.