Sputnik V: First batch of Russian COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Armenia

Russia has sent the first consignment of its domestically manufactured COVID-19 vaccine to Armenia.

15,000 doses of Sputnik V were flown to the Zvartnots Iternational Airport on Monday morning.

Pavel Kurochkin, a counselor at the Russian Embassy in Yerevan, shared the news on Facebook after welcoming the batch, expressing hope that the vaccine will be "effectively used to address the target population’s needs". “We welcomed today the first batch of the Sputnik V vaccine purchased by Armenia. It comprises the 15 doses which will be directed to the vcaccination of people in risk group[s],” he said in a live address.  

The counselor added that the recently imported batch is part of the large-scale Russian assistance to Armenia since the eruption of the pandemic in early 2019.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had earlier expressed hope for facilitating the import higher amounts of Sputnik V to the country. “We need more than 1 million doees of the anti-coronavirus vaccine,” he said at the official meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.