Russia’s cosmonaut training center claimed Tuesday it has actually begun vaccinating workers versus the coronavirus in advance of future area goals.
Journalism service of the Yuri Gagarin Training Centre informed AFP that around 40 of its nearly 1,500 staff members had actually received the very first dosage of Russia’s homemade coronavirus vaccination Sputnik V.
Named after famous Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the very first individual to take a trip to outer space, the facility is located in Star City, a brief drive from Moscow.
” Training proceeds and we are prioritizing the vaccination of workers who remain in close contact with staffs getting ready for mission,” the center’s spokeswoman said.
The facility stated that the main and backup teams of a new expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) had actually been vaccinated previously and will obtain their 2nd dosage on Friday.
Sputnik V has an efficiency of over 90 % according to its developers. It is carried out in two dosages with an interval of 3 weeks.
By mid-December, Russia had actually immunized numerous cosmonauts ahead of future flights and a few of them have currently obtained both dosages.
The following Russian crew to the ISS– cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr Dubrov and also Sergei Korsakov– results from depart from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan in April 2021.
Novitsky and also Dubrov have received their very first doses, the centre said on Tuesday, as quoted by TASS information agency.
Both Russian cosmonauts presently on the ISS– Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov– had actually not been vaccinated before their take-off in late September.
At the time the Russian injection had actually simply started its third stage of tests, as well as the cosmonauts suggested that they would certainly wait on additional testing.
Russia started mass vaccinations with Sputnik V in very early December, while batches of the vaccine were sent out overseas to Belarus, Serbia and Argentina.
According to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which funded the development of Sputnik, more than one million individuals have been immunized in Russia.