Putin Says Vaccination Will be Voluntary -- But Those Who Refuse Could Lose Their Jobs

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 19 – Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that vaccination against the coronavirus will be completely voluntary, but now officials say that those who refuse to be inoculated will be subject to self-isolation and thus be at risk of losing their jobs to those who have gotten the shots and can work immediately (kp.ru/daily/217171/4272620/).

            Moscow is seeking to find new ways to pressure people into getting vaccinated for three reasons:  a rising share of the population saying it won’t get vaccinated, fears that those who are infected will have medical problems long after being declared cured (kp.ru/daily/217170/4272287/), and projections that “no fewer than half” of Russians must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity (regnum.ru/news/3040720.html).

            Today, the central staff reported registering 4828 new cases of infection, bringing that total to 937,321 as well as 117 new deaths bringing that toll to 15,989 (zona.media/chronicle/krnaugust). The pandemic continued but with regions increasingly diverging in its level and the restrictions imposed against it (regnum.ru/news/society/3040080.html).

            The situation in the North Caucasus and along the southern borders of Siberia and the Far East remains especially dire with new limits imposed on many activities (capost.media/news/obshchestvo/obstanovka-po-koronavirusu-na-severnom-kavkaze-ostaetsya-trevozhnoy/,  regnum.ru/news/3040522.html,regnum.ru/news/3040829.html and regnum.ru/news/3040551.html).

            The city of Moscow is doing better, but officials there warn that the city is unprepared for the likely upsurge in cases when schools reopen. According to some, the schools may have to close down again just as they did last spring (russian.eurasianet.org/россия-готовы-ли-школы-к-новой-волне-пандемии).

            The Accounting Chamber announced that to date, the Russian government has injected 1.25 trillion rubles (18 billion US dollars) into the economy during the pandemic (regnum.ru/news/3041053.html), but most economic news continued to be dire. Foreign investment, for example, has fallen by more than 80 percent from last year (https://krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/79226).

            And commentator Boris Kagarlitsky has warned that after the coronavirus the situation will be even worse in the economy and that the slogan – ‘”there is no money, but you hold on” – will have to be revived (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/79237).

            Meanwhile, in other pandemic-related developments from Russia today,

·         The head of the National Parents Committee has called on the government to introduce health classes in Russian schools (regnum.ru/news/3040075.html).

·         A group of doctors is circulating a letter describing the horrific conditions under which they have had to work and the government’s failure, despite promises, to provide them with additional support (svpressa.ru/blogs/article/273749/).

·         Russian media outlets are making much of reports that the coronavirus has mutated and is now less often fatal to those who contract it (newizv.ru/news/science/19-08-2020/kovid-poshel-na-ustupki-uchenye-podtverdili-chto-ego-novaya-mutatsiya-menee-smertelna).