Mikhail Mishustin: “We have reached a very important phase in countering the coronavirus infection by beginning the large-scale vaccination of our citizens all over the country. To carry out the campaign effectively, we have compiled a schedule for supplying the regions with the vaccines. The Government has received logistics certificates of vaccination readiness from all 85 regions of the country.”
Government Coordination Council meeting on controlling the incidence of the novel coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon,
colleagues.
We have reached a very important phase in countering
the coronavirus infection by beginning the large-scale vaccination of our
citizens all over the country. To carry out the campaign effectively, we have
compiled a schedule for supplying the regions with the vaccines. The Government
has received logistics certificates of vaccination readiness from all 85
regions of the country.
The Healthcare Ministry has put together a vaccine
distribution plan for deliveries to the regions in the next three months. It is
important for this work to run smoothly. The vaccine manufacturers will have to
report to the Healthcare Ministry every week on the remaining vaccines. The
ministry will distribute it among the regions in the next two days depending on
the requirements.
The Government has extended the provision of free
medications for the people who are sick with the coronavirus and are being
treated at home under doctors’
supervision. Now these people are the majority. The Government has already
allocated to the regions of the Russian Federation over 5 billion roubles for the
purchase of the necessary medications. We will send them another 2.8 billion
for this purpose. The decision has already been made.
Federal funds will make it possible to provide
medications for at least 350,000 coronavirus patients. It is very important for
all of them to receive the required medicines on time. I’d like to ask the
regional authorities to closely monitor this.
The entire healthcare system must rally all their
efforts and resources to continue fighting the spread of the coronavirus. That
said, patients with other serious diseases also need more attention now. First
of all, these are children with disabilities. The Government has decided to
expand the list of special nutritional care products that children with rare
diseases need. In the next year, the list will gain 11 new products to include
86 items. The federal budget is paying for the purchase of these products. A
disabled child will receive them free of charge based on a prescription issued
by an attending physician.
We will continue taking other measures to make medical
aid more accessible for people regardless of where they live. The personnel
shortage is particularly acute in rural areas and remote regions. Therefore, we
will keep encouraging people to move there, including paramedics.
By the Government’s decision, starting next January,
relocation allowances will be paid to the midwives and nurses who move to work
in medical and obstetrical stations in rural areas or towns with a population
of up to 50,000 people. These allowances will be the same as for paramedics.
They will amount to one million roubles for those moving to the Far East, the
Extreme North or the Arctic. Those who choose
to move to other remote or difficult-to-access territories will be paid 750,000
roubles. About half a million roubles will be given to those who go to small
localities in other regions of the country.
Such incentives will help us cope with the personnel
shortage, make medical care more accessible in rural areas and support medical
workers during the spread of the infection.
