In Vote of No Confidence, Majority of Russia’s Doctors Say They Won’t Use New Vaccine

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 14 – Moscow media say Western doubts about efficacy and safety of Moscow’s new coronavirus vaccine are the product of widespread Russophobia (stoletie.ru/rossiya_i_mir/azhiotazh_vokrug_vakciny_715.htm), but they face a more difficult task in explaining why more than half of Russian doctors say they won’t get themselves vaccinated now (https://www.rbc.ru/society/14/08/2020/5f35d9579a79471d249e8374).

            Russian medical experts are trying to do so by saying that doctors have a special responsibility to be cautious about any new medication and that therefore the result is not surprising and will change (regnum.ru/news/society/3036698.html). And the health ministry says it will soon publish the test results to reassure people (regnum.ru/news/society/3036593.html).

Officials are stressing that many foreign countries want to buy the Russian vaccine (regnum.ru/news/3036741.html and regnum.ru/news/3036788.html). But Health Minister Mikhail Murashko says that, reports to the contrary in international media notwithstanding, Moscow is now focusing exclusively on producing enough of the vaccine for use in Russia (regnum.ru/news/3036598.html).

The first shipments of the vaccine are slated to go to the regions in about two weeks with all receiving them by early 2021 (regnum.ru/news/3036609.html and regnum.ru/news/3036587.html).  

The pandemic nonetheless continues, with new infections rising again above 5,000 a day to 5065 yesterday, bringing the cumulative total to 912,823, and 114 new deaths, bringing that toll to 15,498 (zona.media/chronicle/krnaugust). Those overall figures obscured the fact that some places are experiencing real improvement (Moscow) while others (Petersburg and many regions) face a deteriorating one (regnum.ru/news/society/3033993.html up and down).

The Russian federal budget deficit has risen to more than a third, with the government currently spending two trillion rubles and taking in only 1.3 trillion (30 billion US dollars compared to 20 billion) (finanz.ru/novosti/aktsii/v-federalnom-byudzhete-ne-khvataet-kazhdogo-tretego-rublya-1029502377).

Vladimir Putin has conceded that new housing is not becoming available as fast as it did last year (regnum.ru/news/3036940.html), and Russian economists are warning that in contrast to other countries, any recovery in Russia will be driven by export earnings rather than consumer spending, leaving Russia more dependent on world markets (profile.ru/economy/kto-vyvedet-rossiyu-iz-koronakrizisa-392861/).

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

·         A human rights expert says Moscow’s plan to force Russians trapped abroad to pay for their repatriation is not only illegal but unjust (regnum.ru/news/3037225.html).

·         Officials say that just over 10 percent of the residents of Khabarovsk, the far eastern city that continues to be roiled by protests, are infected by the virus, although many of them are asymptomatic (regnum.ru/news/3036839.html).

·         Russian experts are projecting that there will be a dramatic falloff in the online purchase of luxury goods by the end of the year as wealthier Russians tighten their belts as well (rbc.ru/business/14/08/2020/5f3540579a7947691ae3b1f8?from=column_32).