Health Minister defends Armenia's purchase of AstraZeneca vaccineApril 1, 2021 - 19:08 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan on Thursday, April 1 defended Armenia's purchase of 24,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, maintaining that reported side effects linked to the vaccine have not been proved. Avanesyan said the country will use the jabs from AstraZeneca and other manufacturers that have been approved by international agencies as producing effective and safe drugs, the Armenian Service of RFE/RL reports. "A number of countries have temporarily halted [vaccination with AstraZeneca shots], some others have resumed, while many had not abandoned [the program] in the first place," the Health Minister said when asked about the safety of the jabs. The first batch of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine will be used to inoculate people aged over 65, those who have underlying health conditions, medical workers, residents and staff of elderly care centers, as well as social care center employees. The Chief of the Prime Minister's Staff, ex-Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan said earlier that the Armenian government is planning to purchase several hundred thousand doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |