Moscow Having Trouble Getting Volunteers for Third Phase of Vaccine Testing

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 31 – Only 2500 Russians have volunteered so far to take part in the third phase of the coronavirus vaccine testing, far fewer than the 40,000 medical officials there and elsewhere say is required and another indication of doubts among the population about the safety of the medication  (regnum.ru/news/3049716.html).

            Health Minister Mikhail Murashkov says that mass vaccination against the coronavirus will begin in November and December (regnum.ru/news/3049776.html), as officials report that there are already more than a million doses already stockpiled in Moscow alone (regnum.ru/news/3049884.html).

            Russian officials say that they hope to set up a single market for the vaccine in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Community (ritmeurasia.org/news--2020-08-31--eaes-nuzhno-sozdat-edinyj-rynok-vakciny-ot-koronavirusa-50649), and India is making arrangements to produce the Russian vaccine under license (vestikavkaza.ru/analytics/rossia-i-india-vmeste-budut-proizvodit-vakcinu-ot-covid-19.html).

            Today, Moscow officials reported that 4993 new cases of coronavirus infection had been registered in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total to 995,319, and 83 new deaths, upping that toll to 17,176 (t.me/COVID2019_official/1390). What is disturbing is that in Russia unlike in other countries, the death rate continues to track the infection rate rather than falling as treatments improve (echo.msk.ru/blog/v_inozemcev/2701397-echo/).

            The pandemic continues to ebb and flow across the Russian Federation, with re-openings and re-closings remaining the order of the day (regnum.ru/news/society/3045839.html). Of particular concern is that psychiatric hospitals have become centers for the spread of the disease (regnum.ru/news/3049438.html).

            The re-opening of schools now dominates discussions about the future of the pandemic. Many fear that children will not only get sick but bring the virus home, while others say that preventing that will bring the educational system to a standstill (dailystorm.ru/detali/virusologi-obyasnili-nuzhna-li-detyam-privivka-ot-koronavirusa and dailystorm.ru/obschestvo/v-sluchae-totalnyh-proverok-rospotrebnadzora-nas-zhdet-kollaps-shkol).

            Moscow continues to insist that all schools will operate on a face to face basis, but that isn’t true (e.g., https://regnum.ru/news/3049362.html); and rumors are spreading and then being denied that the entire school system will go to distance learning by September 20 (regnum.ru/news/3050167.html).

            The fact that higher educational institutions have been directed to prepare to go over to distance learning entirely if a new wave of the pandemic occurs is sparking these rumors (regnum.ru/news/3049908.html). To try to calm parents, Moscow city has announced that all its teachers have been tested for the virus (regnum.ru/news/3049811.html).

            One idea that is gaining in popularity is the introduction into the school curriculum of a separate course on health literacy that would teach students and presumably their parents as well the basic rules of preventing the spread of diseases. Some fear that such a course would reduce time for core subjects, however (iq.hse.ru/news/395805927.html).

            On the economic front, retail trade declined in 78 federal subjects during the first half of 2020 while going up in six. That pattern means that the six where it went up were the largest and their progress obscured the size of declines elsewhere (regnum.ru/news/3049560.html), In the same period, more businesses failed and fewer opened than a year before (regnum.ru/news/3049857.html).

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

·         A United Russia deputy in the Altay said the WHO was “absolutely right” in saying that the pandemic is having a negative impact on the psychology of people (regnum.ru/news/3049544.html).

·         Aeroflot is asking for more government aid than its losses have amounted to, an indication that the Kremlin may use the coronavirus as a cover for aiding its friends and punishing its enemies (vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2020/08/31/838355-poteri-aeroflota).

·         Prosecutors say the number of fraud cases has shot up dramatically during the period when Russians were restricted to their homes to prevent the spread of the virus (regnum.ru/news/3049528.html).