MOSCOW (REUTERS) - Russia is preparing to start a mass vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus in October, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Saturday (Aug 1), RIA news agency reported.

The minister, who did not give details about the vaccine to be used, said doctors and teachers would be the first to be vaccinated.

A source told Reuters this week that Russia's first potential Covid-19 vaccine, developed by a state research facility, would secure local regulatory approval in August and be administered to health workers soon after that.