Armenian Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan today said the government plans to vaccinate 600,000-700,000 people a year against Covid-19. That’s around 20% of the country’s official population.

Avanesyan made the claim today in the National Assembly.

Earlier, the minister said that the Armenian government will get one million Sputnik V vaccine doses to reach this goal. The market price for one dose of the Sputnik V vaccine is $10.

The exact price to be paid is still being negotiated.

Avanesyan said that there would be an opportunity for private companies to introduce vaccines and provide them to citizens as a service.

Armenia began its public vaccination campaign this week.

Risk groups have been identified for vaccination: those over the age of 65, chronically ill people aged 18-64, residents and staff of nursing homes, and staff at social care centers.

24,000 doses of AstraZeneca and 15,000 doses of Sputnik-V vaccines for 7,500 people were imported to Armenia. Vaccinations are carried out on a voluntary basis among at-risk groups.