The third batch of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine was delivered late Sunday evening to the Philippines, Trend reports with reference to TASS.
According to the report, the authorities intend to use this batch in areas of the country with a high level of infection. The recipients of the first two consignments of Sputnik V were mainly medical workers in several cities in the Manila metropolitan area.
On January 30, 2020, the first coronavirus case was detected in the Philippines. To date, the total number of people infected in the republic has exceeded 1.22 mln, more than 1.14 mln people have recovered, and 20,800 patients have died. The country's authorities have already approved the emergency use of the vaccine from Moderna and the Russian drug Sputnik V, as well as the drugs from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Bharat Biotech, and Janssen.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.