Zubkov's opening address:
Today we will consider the current situation with the H1N1 flu virus in the country and outline immediate plans.
Thanks to the prompt measures taken by the government and the efforts of the commission and regional centres, the infection rate of this flu has been declining since December. In accordance with the schedule approved by the commission in 2009, four types of H1N1 vaccines were created in Russia and are now mass produced. Nine state contracts for the purchase of 35 million doses of the vaccine have been signed using budget funds.
We have started preventive inoculation against the H1N1 flu virus. At this point, we have fulfilled five state contracts for the delivery of some 9 million doses of the vaccine to 68 constituent entities and inoculated approximately five million people, notably children and the staff of enterprises vital to the country's operation. The vaccination of risk groups in 11 constituent entities has been completed. All of Russia's constituent entities have received the equipment necessary for diagnosing the H1N1 flu in real time.
This was accomplished through the joint efforts of the federal centre and the regions. I would like to mention the active policy of several regions, which have allocated additional funds for measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic. These are Moscow, St Petersburg, the Krasnodar and Khabarovsk territories, Bashkortostan, and the Leningrad, Sverdlovsk, Penza, Amur and Voronezh regions.
Our key task now is to complete the vaccination of the remaining 26.5 million people from the risk group by March 1.
The government has decided to finance the purchase of pandemic vaccines, but the regions are responsible for their timely use. Arresting the spread of the H1N1 epidemic directly depends on the results of this vaccination effort.
Russia has received requests for its flu vaccine from over a dozen countries, including the CIS, but our priority is to inoculate Russian citizens. We will consider exporting the H1N1 vaccine after March 1.
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The meeting of the commission was held as a videoconference. The heads of the Trans-Baikal, Krasnoyarsk and Perm territories and the Amur, Belgorod, Tomsk and Chelyabinsk regions were directly connected to the Situations Centre.