Russia Now Vaccinating 200,000 a Day but at That Rate Pandemic Will Last into 2023

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 16 – Russian officials have managed to boost the rate of coronavirus vaccinations to 200,000 a day, a significant improvement. But even at that rate, the pandemic is predicted to last into 2023 if its end depends on vaccinations alone (echo.msk.ru/news/2823076-echo.html and capost.media/news/obshchestvo/eksperty-iz-za-vaktsiny-pandemiya-mozhet-prodlitsya-do-2023-goda/).

            Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova says that Russia has now vaccinated more than eight million people but that Russians should continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing to avoid having a new wave of the pandemic break out, something doctors say is increasingly likely (regnum.ru/news/3245019.html and vtimes.io/2021/04/16/rossiya-ne-gotova-k-tretei-volne-kovida-a-ona-podnimaetsya-a4477).

            But Rosbalt commentator Sergey Shelin says that most Russians look at the pandemic and at efforts to counter it with the fatalism they approach most subjects, something that means even the failure of the Kremlin to rein in the coronavirus may not have the political consequences some have predicted (rosbalt.ru/blogs/2021/04/16/1897600.html).

            Today, Russian officials reported registering 8995 new cases of infection and 397 new deaths from the coronavirus over the last 24 hours, at a plateau in both cases, as the pandemic continued to ebb and flow across the country (t.me/COVID2019_official/2785 and  regnum.ru/news/society/3241939.html).

            In some places, like St. Petersburg, officials are easing restrictions, like dropping the requirement that people wear gloves, but in others they are extending existing restrictions or even imposing new ones, as many expect a general upsurge later this month and in May (regnum.ru/news/3245470.html and regnum.ru/news/3245281.html).

            On the vaccine front, Moscow sent 73,800 more doses of vaccine to St. Petersburg, a continuing hotspot (regnum.ru/news/3245461.html). The first batches of the other vaccines, including Sputnik Lite are now being sent to the regions (regnum.ru/news/3244892.html and  regnum.ru/news/3244871.html).

            And on the economic front, there was an unexpected report: Stores carrying luxury products in Russia have seen sales soar during the pandemic because their customers are not travelling abroad and purchasing things there (rbc.ru/business/16/04/2021/6076fc4b9a79477e4eb11fce).