Correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan” report that on 25 January, 2021 a meeting was held in the Ashgabat municipal healthcare department to familiarize chief physicians and administrators of Ashgabat medical institutions with the plans to train healthcare practitioners for the COVID-19 vaccinations.
It is envisaged that healthcare practitioners will be the first to get vaccinated, followed by teaching staff of educational establishments and law enforcement officers, including military personnel
Executives of outpatient clinics have been instructed to provide lists of residents assigned to them by age groups: from 30 to 40, from 41 to 50, from 51 to 60, from 61 to 70, 71 and older.
As soon as the lists are available, they must be handed over to the municipal healthcare departments.The number of vaccines required will be determined by the number of residents listed and handed over to the respective outpatient clinic.
Residents need a blood test before the vaccination. During the consultation patients will be warned that 21 days after the first shot a second one needs to be administered.
We have failed to establish the reason behind blood tests.According to Radio “Azatlyk”, if a patient has already been exposed to COVID-19 and recovered, the blood test will identify antibodies.
Such people will not be vaccinated.The news outlet highlights the contradiction of the official position of the Turkmen authorities who still deny any coronavirus cases in Turkmenistan and that consequently there should be no people with antibodies.
Vaccinations will be administered round-the-clock.
As of today, vaccinations are envisaged to be free of charge. However, a large number of citizens hold no medical insurance. It remains unclear whether they will be vaccinated and under what conditions.
It is also unclear which vaccine will be used.As of today the Russian Sputnik V has been registered in Turkmenistan and the registration of another Russian vaccine “EpiVacCorona” is underway.
According to sources at “Chronicles of Turkmenistan”, small batches of Pfizer and Sputnik V vaccines were delivered to Turkmenistan on 13 January.
On 20 January, 2021 President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov stated that athletes arriving in Turkmenistan for sporting events will be vaccinated using a vaccine of their choice.The post Preparations for COVID-19 vaccination are underway in Turkmenistan first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.