ANKARA

Turkmenistan became one of the first countries to approve the use of Russian COVID-19 vaccines, including Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, and Sputnik Light, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Medical Industry.

The ministry said in a statement that it registered the Sputnik Light vaccine and issued a corresponding certificate for its use.

Vaccination with these preparations will allow the population to develop immunity more quickly, it said, adding that Sputnik Light’s effectiveness rate of about 80% exceeds that of other vaccines requiring the use of two components.

Underlining that Turkmenistan has separately purchased over 600,000 doses of the two-component vaccine Sputnik V, it added that step-by-step work on further procurement of this line of preparations is continuing.

“As is known, the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan actively cooperates with the leading centers of virology of the Russian Federation. The registration of Sputnik Light in Turkmenistan is the result of close partnership of the two countries in the fight against the spread of infectious diseases,” it added.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 5.39 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with more than 279.03 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US’ Johns Hopkins University.