Russian President Vladimir Putin has received the first dose of the domestically produced 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, and Russian officials have not specified which vaccine it is or made the process public. Other world leaders who have been vaccinated include U.S. President Joe Biden, Pope Francis and Queen Elizabeth II. But unlike many heads of state who have been publicly vaccinated, Putin is doing it behind closed doors, AFP said. Putin had earlier forecast a vaccination on the 23rd. Vaccine skepticism is running high in Russia, with recent polls showing that less than 1/3 of the population is willing to be vaccinated and nearly 2/3 believe that the new coronavirus is a man-made biochemical weapon.
AFP said Putin’s low-key inoculation of Russian-made vaccine, the process is not public. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press yesterday evening that Putin, 68, had been vaccinated, but did not say which vaccine he had received.
According to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency, Peskov said, “Putin has been vaccinated against the coronavirus and he feels fine. He has to work all day tomorrow.”
Earlier yesterday, Peskov said Putin did not want to be vaccinated in front of the cameras. Putin, who has been in power for 20 years, has never been shy about facing the media. Peskov said, “We won’t show it to everyone, you have to believe what we say.” Peskov also said that Putin chose one of the three homemade vaccines to be injected, but “deliberately” did not want to specify which one. Russia’s three homemade vaccines are Sputnik-V, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac, with Sputnik-V getting the most attention, named after the first homemade Soviet-era artificial satellite to be launched into space.
Russia has been slower to get vaccinated than other countries, but Peskov said Putin did not need to encourage more Russian people to get vaccinated by doing so publicly. Although Russia has produced three domestically produced 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines, authorities are counting on boosting vaccination campaigns in the country, where progress has been limited.
With a population of 144 million, only 4 million people in Russia have received two doses of the vaccine, and another 2 million have received their first dose. Vaccine skepticism is running high in Russia, with recent polls showing that less than one-third of the population is willing to be vaccinated and nearly two-thirds believe that the new coronavirus is a man-made biochemical weapon. According to AFP, Russia is one of the countries hardest hit by the COVID-19 Epidemic, with more than 4.4 million cases diagnosed and more than 95,000 people sickened and killed.
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