RUSSIA has vaccinated thousands of people against the bubonic plague over fears the disease will spread.

The drastic move comes after outbreaks in Mongolia and China.

Some 2,500 adults and 623 children have been so far given vaccinations in Siberia – a favourite Vladimir Putin holiday spot. 

The region shares a border with Mongolia. 

A huge sanitisation campaign has been carried out to kill infected fleas by spraying across a large area near remote villages, it was announced. 

The Bubonic plague is a bacterial disease spread by fleas living on wild rodents.

"A wide distribution of the plague pathogen was revealed in Ovyursky and Mongun-Taiginsky districts with a total area of 131 square miles,” said Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s health watchdog. 

In one area, eight shepherd camps with 51 people including 16 children were deemed at serious risk of infection. 

“In Ovyursky district, the dangerous area is Khandagayty settlement with a population of over 3,000.

“Here, urgently, employees of the epidemiological squad carried out barrier disinfection, treating 4,000 hectares around the village from plague carriers.”

The news of the vaccination follows two deaths from the bubonic plague in China’s Inner Mongolia.

Two villages were reported to be sealed off in the province. 

Earlier a 15-year-old boy died from the Black Death in Mongolia, and two brothers were infected in a separate outbreak. 

Three other Russian regions in southern Siberia are known to be monitoring the spread – TransBaikal, and the republics of Altai and Buryatia. 

It kills in less than 24 hours if not treated immediately.

It comes as Putin claimed Russia has the world's first coronavirus vaccine.

The country's health ministry says the jab – named Sputnik V after the Russian crafts launched during the Space Race – will provide immunity for two years.

The jab is still in the final stages of trials to test whether it is effective and safe, but the announcement could be a step towards rolling out a mass vaccination program.

Russia has said it plans to produce 30million doses inside the country before the end of the year, and that it could also produce up to 170million doses abroad.

The first human trial of the vaccine, a month-long test involving 38 people, ended in mid-July, with researchers concluding it was safe to use and produced an immune response, although the strength of that response was not clear.

The vaccine will be marketed abroad as Sputnik V, a reference to crafts launch by Russia during the Space Race, including the first ever satellite, and to what Moscow views as its victory in becoming the first country to approve a vaccine.

Speaking at a meeting with members of his government, President Putin said: "As far as I know, a vaccine against a new coronavirus infection has been registered this morning, for the first time in the world.

"I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity and, I repeat, has passed all the necessary checks.

“One of my daughters got herself this shot. I think in this sense, she took part in the experiment."

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