Vaccination against coronavirus with the Russian drug Sputnik V will start in Lebanon on March 30, Jacques Sarraf, chairman of the Lebanese-Russian Business Council and Russian Honorary Consul in Tripoli, Northern Lebanon, told TASS on Friday.
"The first vaccinations will be given to employees of the national airline Middle East Airlines. This will take place on March 30 at the Rafik Hariri International Airport Medical Center and the staff will be vaccinated for free," said Sarraf, who owns the pharmaceutical company Pharmaline.
A day earlier, the first batch of the Russian drug was flown to Beirut from the United Arab Emirates. According to Sarraf, it will be used to vaccinate employees of private companies.
On Thursday, registration began for companies and organizations that intend to receive the Sputnik V drug and vaccinate their personnel. As Sarraf stressed, the vaccination will be carried out under the supervision of the Lebanese Ministry of Health in clinics and medical centers.
The chairman of the Lebanese-Russian Business Council noted that the private medical sector came to the aid of the state in the fight against the pandemic. "We did this in a situation where Lebanon is in a difficult economic situation and the authorities are unable to vaccinate the entire population," he said. According to Sarraf, the Russian drug was preferred, given its high efficacy, which reaches 91.6 percent. "Lebanese businessmen have great confidence in Russian medicine," he said.
The republic's Ministry of Health approved the emergency use of the Russian vaccine on February 5. On February 26, it was announced that 20 private firms had been given the right to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies producing drugs against the coronavirus. According to Acting Minister of Health of Lebanon Hamad Hassan, 13 of them are planning to sign contracts to supply the Russian drug Sputnik V and another seven expect to purchase vaccines from the Chinese corporation Sinopharm.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS