Paul Goble
Staunton, Sept. 19 – Russia has fewer covid infections and deaths than in most other advanced countries because the life expectancy there is so much lower lower and thus the number of high-risk elderly relatively smaller; but its losses from the pandemic are higher than in less-developed countries because its more modern characteristics put all at greater risk.
Those conclusions are offered by Russian social historian and demographer Michael Bernstam of the Hoover Institution (svoboda.org/a/tayny-koronavirusa-izbytochnaya-smertnostj-v-ssha-i-rossii/31466295.html); and they help explain why the pandemic is easing pressure on Russia’s pension fund (ng.ru/economics/2021-09-19/1_8255_russians.html).
Today, Russian officials reported registering 20,174 new cases of infection and 793 new deaths from the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, as the pandemic surged in several places including the capitals (t.me/COVID2019_official/3571, regnum.ru/news/society/3369923.html, https://regnum.ru/news/3374610.html, regnum.ru/news/3374415.html and regnum.ru/news/3374305.html).
With the election ending, there were more dire predictions about the future and reports that in at least one region, medical staff were running short of vaccines (regnum.ru/news/3374415.html and regnum.ru/news/3374444.html).
Meanwhile, Russian commentators continued to complain about the World Health Organization’s decision to put consideration of the certification of Sputnik-5 as a vaccine on hold (newizv.ru/news/tech/18-09-2021/trudnaya-traektoriya-sputnika-pochemu-rossiyskaya-vaktsina-ne-poluchila-odobrenie-voz).
And a new poll found that 53 percent of Russians say that as a result of the pandemic, they will need a minimum of four weeks’ vacation in 2022 (superjob.ru/research/articles/113067/pandemiya-zastavila-mechtat-o-dlinnyh-otpuskah/).
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