JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia struggles to distribute its vaccine to the regions; Putin calls for ‘mass’ inoculation as data suggest government is delivering fewer jabs than promised” – Financial Times/ Henry Foy
“… Russia’s government says 1.5m vaccines have been distributed … [with] hundreds of thousands more … ready … [but] doctors and officials … [indicate] a far bleaker reality of limited supplies and delayed shipments. … Moscow’s clinics have been busy vaccinating … [but] regions outside of the capital have struggled to secure adequate supplies, calling into question … [governmental] ability … to meet … Putin[] demands. … Regional doctors have … voiced anger at … Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) … pledges to supply countries like Serbia, Brazil and Bolivia with millions of doses, even as clinics outside of Moscow go without. [RDIF financed Sputnik V and manages export sales.] …”
Russia has the world’s fourth-highest total of admitted Covid-19 cases, 3.5 million. This week, Russia recorded roughly 23,000 new cases daily.
According to a Levada Center poll, only 38% of Russians are willing to get vaccinated, even if the vaccine were available more widely.
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