With Russia facing a record spike in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus, advisers working for President Vladimir Putin who choose not to sign up for a vaccine face being shunned by their colleagues, a top Kremlin official has declared.
Asked by journalists on Friday whether any of Putin’s team are anti-vaxxers, press secretary Dmitry Peskov acknowledged that some colleagues are still reluctant to receive Covid-19 shots. This, he said, makes Moscow’s corridors of power “just like everywhere in our society.”
Peskov revealed that the Kremlin has reached an “irreconcilable stance” with such employees, who are now being “ostracized.”
The official went on to say that there were high numbers of daily infections within the administration, with the Omicron strain having proven its “explosive infectious potential.” The majority of those who have contracted the virus “continue working from home,” though, he explained.
Peskov also argued out that while the administration is “doing everything necessary,” there is, however, “no panacea in this respect.” Yet, according to him, vaccination still offers protection from serious health complications from the virus.
In November last year, Putin revealed that he had received a booster dose of the Sputnik Light vaccine. It came several months after he was administered a second dose of Sputnik V in mid-April 2021. He has also taken part in trials of a domestically-made nasal vaccine.
As for Peskov, he, too, opted for Sputnik Light despite already having significant antibodies from a previous infection with Covid.
Along with many other European nations, Russia has announced record-breaking Covid-19 cases over the past few weeks, with 88,105 positive tests in the previous 24 hours, and infections largely concentrated around Moscow and St. Petersburg. As of January 28, the Omicron strain has been identified in 74 out of Russia’s 85 administrative regions.
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