Jacques Sarraf, head of the Lebanese Russian Business Council and owner of the private company Pharmaline, has managed to secure a deal for one million doses of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V.
Sarraf, who is also the Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in Lebanon, told Al-Modon News that his company will provide the vaccine free of charge to individuals. Companies and institutions seeking to vaccinate their employees and their families will be charged $38 for the required 2 doses.
According to Sarraf, the shipment will arrive in Lebanon next week, on Tuesday, and the Sputnik vaccine campaign will initiate the following week, on Monday, March 29th.
His aim, as he said, is to speed up the vaccination campaign in the country.
It is worth mentioning that 24 firms in Lebanon were given the official authorization to import anti-coronavirus vaccines but haven’t managed to secure a deal, according to the health minister, Hamad Hassan last month.
Sarraf revealed to Al-Modon that he had to press through all the contacts he has in his positions “serving Russia’s interests in Lebanon” to secure the vaccine.
Institutions seeking to vaccinate their staff and their families may provide Pharmaline with the lists of names “to carry out the necessary transactions,” he said. The vaccinations will be performed at any of the 17 centers accredited by the Health Ministry.
As for the ongoing vaccination campaign, 99,625 individuals have been vaccinated with the first dose and 27,872 people completed their vaccination with the second dose; as of the time of writing.
Those numbers are still very low considering that Lebanon is home to approximately 6.83 million people and the pandemic is still claiming lives on a daily basis.
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