US Researchers Say Almost 600,000 Russians have Died from Pandemic

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 7 – Researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle say that their analysis suggests that 593,610 residents of Russia died from the pandemic between March 2020 and May 2021, 5.4 times the figure Russian officials give (vtimes.io/2021/05/07/issledovanie-realnaya-smertnost-ot-kovida-v-rossii-mozhet-bit-v-54-raza-bolshe-ofitsialnih-tsifr-a4892).

            While the IHME is a respected institution, its analysis is certain to be disputed, but the new figure will add fuel to the fire of debates in Russia as to just how many Russians have died from the coronavirus and lead even more people there and elsewhere to conclude that the Kremlin has been seriously understating the impact of the pandemic.

            Today, the Russian government said that it had registered 8386 new cases of infection and 376 new deaths from the coronavirus over the last 24 hours, bringing its cumulative totals to 4.8 million infections and 112,622 deaths, a number many independent analysts say have long insisted is too low (t.me/COVID2019_official/2902).

            Preliminary observations by Russian epidemiologists suggest that the extended holidays Vladimir Putin ordered to help rein in the pandemic are not working as intended. There has been no increase in the number of people seeking vaccinations, and many people free to visit stores and cafes are not wearing masks or observing social distance (business-gazeta.ru/article/508459).

            Russians are clearly chafing under many of the restrictions. A new Levada Center poll finds that 34 percent of Russians do not support the government’s suspension of flights to Turkey, although 49 percent say they back the government’s decision, a decision Putin and others insist was not made for political reasons (levada.ru/2021/05/07/ogranichenie-aviasoobshheniya-s-turtsiej/).

            In new guidance, the Russian health ministry has dropped several medications that earlier had been used against the coronavirus and added two new Russian vaccines, KoviVak and Sputnik Lite (regnum.ru/news/3262911.html and regnum.ru/news/3262899.html).

            Russian regional governments are trying all kinds of tactics to get people vaccinated. Khabarovsk Kray is giving those who get the shots special discounts at 16 cafes around that kray (eastrussia.ru/news/vaktsinirovavshikhsya-ot-covid-pooshchryat-skidkami-v-khabarovskom-krae/).

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

·         Russian officials announced that everyone attending the Petersburg International Economic Forum at which Vladimir Putin is slated to be present must be tested for the coronavirus and those who will attend meetings where he will be must get a second test as well (regnum.ru/news/3263102.html).

·         Muslim leaders in Daghestan have cancelled all mass meetings connected with the end of the month of Ramadan but prayers will still be possible in mosques there (regnum.ru/news/3262944.html).

·         Russia has announced that it has begun production of the world’s first coronavirus vaccine for animals (rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/608badfb9a7947a8e3946207).