Nearly Half of Russia’s Soldiers but Only 10 Percent of Its Teachers have Been Vaccinated

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 6 – The Russian defense ministry says that more than 435,000 soldiers and sailors have received coronavirus vaccinations, almost half of all those in uniform, but government officials say only “about 10 percent” of the country’s teachers have (regnum.ru/news/3235899.html and regnum.ru/news/3235636.html).

            One reason that the figures for the military are so high is that it is unlikely that vaccinations there are completely voluntary; a reason they are so low for teachers is not only the lower priority Moscow assigns to them but the fact that 20 percent of teachers so far have refused the shots when offered them (echo.msk.ru/news/2817466-echo.html).

            Moscow officials reported registering 8328 new cases of infection and 389 new deaths from the pandemic over the last 24 hours, both figures continuing a general decline (t.me/COVID2019_official/2733). But the pandemic continues to ebb and flow, and officials are warning regions not to lift restrictions too quickly (echo.msk.ru/news/2817504-echo.html and regnum.ru/news/society/3233862.html).

            On the vaccine front, the Kremlin said Vladimir Putin still has not received his second shot (regnum.ru/news/3235465.html), officials said that the authorities are not vaccinating immigrant workers (nazaccent.ru/content/35486-opershtab-v-rossii-poka-ne-budut.html), and they added that electronic vaccination certificates are good only within the country (regnum.ru/news/3235355.html).

            Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin urged an increase in the tempo of vaccination lest the situation with regard to infections deteriorate (regnum.ru/news/3235463.html). Moscow shipped another 30,000 doses of vaccine to St. Petersburg, still a hotspot (regnum.ru/news/3235779.html), and US researchers said the Sputnik-5 vaccine was less effective against the South African strain than its foreign competitors (themoscowtimes.com/2021/04/06/russias-sputnik-v-vaccine-less-effective-against-south-african-variant-us-study-a73484).

                Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it was possible that Russian firms would begin to produce the Indian vaccine (regnum.ru/news/3235538.html), as Kosovo announced it would not use the Russian or Chinese vaccines because neither country of origin recognizes its independence (regnum.ru/news/3235820.html).

            On the economic front, Rosstat reported that inflation in Russia is now higher than at any point since the fall of 2016 (echo.msk.ru/news/2817624-echo.html).

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

·         The Kremlin says no decision has been reached on whether those taking part in or attending the May 9 parade will have to wear masks (regnum.ru/news/3235603.html).

·         Vladimir Putin’s visit to India will depend on the epidemiological situation there, his spokesman says (regnum.ru/news/3235487.html).

·         The Lak nation in Daghestan held a memorial meeting for those of its group who have died from the coronavirus, yet another way the pandemic is affecting ethnic identity (nazaccent.ru/content/35478-v-dagestane-projdet-vecher-pamyati-pogibshih.html).