RUSSIALINK: “Putin Rules Out Mandatory Vaccinations” – Moscow Times
… Putin said Wednesday that mandating coronavirus vaccinations would be “impractical and impossible” amid an ongoing debate […]
» Read moreCategory: Coronavirus, Covid-19 Pandemic
RUSSIALINK: “Russia’s Ex-PM Medvedev Backs Mandatory Vaccination” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 19, 2021) Russia’s former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has expressed support for compulsory vaccinations Wednesday as the country grapples with slower-than-hoped-for coronavirus vaccine uptake. Medvedev, who was demoted to deputy chief of Russia’s Security Council in a major cabinet reshuffle last year, described mandating vaccinations as a tradeoff between individual choice and protecting the […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Medvedev calls for ensuring everyone’s access to coronavirus vaccines, abandoning ‘vaccine nationalism'” – Interfax
MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) – Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has called on the global community to ensure access to vaccines for the novel coronavirus infection to everyone and to stop practicing “vaccine nationalism.” “It is necessary to in the near future agree on the rules for recognizing vaccines for the purpose of cross-border travel and ensure general […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russia’s Economy Almost Hits Pre-Coronavirus Levels; GDP was down just 1% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to last year” – Moscow Times
Russia’s economy shrank by 1% in the first quarter of 2021, the Rosstat statistics agency estimated […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Majority of Russians Still Not Ready to Get Sputnik Vaccine – Poll” – Moscow Times
RUSSIALINK: “Moscow Official Slams Slow Vaccination, Lax Mask-Wearing as Coronavirus Cases Double” – Moscow Times
The spike was announced 24 hours after the Kremlin denied … report[s] that Russia is in the midst of a Covid-19 third wave […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Is Russia Entering a Third Coronavirus Wave? Despite the Kremlin denying a hidden rise in cases, figures for Moscow and reports from hospitals paint a worrying picture.” – Moscow Times
… Russia’s coronavirus statistics have been heavily questioned since the start of the pandemic […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Less Than 10% of People Vaccinated In Moscow, Center of Russia’s Vaccination Drive” – Moscow Times
Latest figures continue to show the slow pace of Russia’s vaccination rollout. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 15, 2021) Around 820,000 Muscovites have received both doses of a coronavirus vaccine, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said yesterday, with the number who have received at least one dose of Russia’s three homemade jabs having surpassed 1 million in the capital. In a […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Covid-19 may become chronic condition – Russian Academician Chuchalin” – Interfax
Among other post-Covid symptoms, the academician listed chronic fatigue syndrome and endothelial dysfunction (vascular inflammation) in different organs of the body, including the heart and brain […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Putin Receives Second Coronavirus Vaccine Dose” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 14, 2021) President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday that he has received his second Covid-19 vaccine shot with one of Russia’s domestically developed jabs and that he hoped Russians would follow his example. Putin, 68, received his first dose on March 23. “I want to inform you that right now, before entering this room, I […]
» Read moreMoscow Reports Coefficient of Spread of Pandemic has Fallen Below One Even in 10 Worst Regions
(Window On Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, March 27, 2021) The Russian consumer protection agency says that the coefficient of the spread of the coronavirus has fallen below one even in the 10 regions which have the highest rates of infection. That points to continuing declines because it means that each person infected is now expected to infect less […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “One Year On: How Russia’s Coronavirus Lockdown Hit the Economy” – Moscow Times
Russia avoided mass unemployment and a sharp fall in GDP but has one of the world’s highest excess death tolls […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin felt minor side effects from COVID-19 vaccine – Ifax” – Reuters
“… Putin said … he … experienced minor side effects from the coronavirus vaccine … Interfax … reported, citing a TV interview. [According to Putin, symptoms included] ‘… slight pain in [his] muscles[,] … [but his] temperature was normal,’ …. [with] an uncomfortable feeling on the [injection] site …. Putin did not reveal which of three Russian vaccines he [received] […]
» Read moreDemand for Russia’s Sputnik-5 Vaccine Exceeds Supply Abroad and at Home
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says demand for the Russian vaccine far exceeds supply in foreign countries …. But the same situation holds in many parts of Russia where there is now not enough vaccine to meet domestic demand […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Sputnik V’s Road to the European Market” – Moscow Times
… March 8, an official at the EU’s medicines regulator was quick to dismiss the idea of granting emergency authorization for Russia’s vaccine, comparing it to ‘Russian roulette’ […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia Says Sputnik V Production Deals Reached in Key EU States” – AFP
“… Russia[] Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) [head] Kirill Dmitriev … [announced] ‘agreements with companies from Italy, Spain, France and Germany to launch … Sputnik V [production]’ … allow[ing] … Sputnik [vaccine supplies] to the European market ‘once … approval is granted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).’ If approved Sputnik would become the first non-Western coronavirus [vaccine] … certified for […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Moscow Hotel Bookings Surpass European Cities Facing Virus Restrictions” – Moscow Times
… Unlike other European cities, the Russian capital has remained relatively open with only limited restrictions imposed when new coronavirus infections began to soar […]
» Read moreCOVID-19 in Russia: What Russians Expected, What They Got, and What They Think About It
(PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo – Sarah Wilson Sokhey – Feb, 22, 2021) Sarah Wilson Sokhey is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. The coronavirus pandemic in Russia posed the same myriad challenges as in many countries: a devastating loss of life, strained healthcare resources, and an economic crisis. In Russia’s case, the pandemic also came at […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Looming Supply Glut of Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine Could Pave Way for Exports” – Moscow Times
Pharmaceutical industry experts told The Moscow Times that manufacturers are set to overshoot targets while Russians remain indifferent to the jab. (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Felix Light, Pjotr Sauer – Feb. 19, 2021) A surge in production of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine combined with domestic distrust of the jab could lead to a boom in exports, pharmaceutical executives […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russia Has One of the World’s Highest Excess Death Rates. Why Aren’t Russians Angrier?” – Moscow Times
… A Russian tendency to place less value on human life than people in more developed countries may also play a role in the tendency to accept large numbers of Covid-19 fatalities […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Covid vaccine faces global production hurdles; Moscow has entrusted future of Sputnik V jab to sprawling network of private companies around world” – Financial Times/ Henry Foy, Max Seddon
“Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V … if it is going to meet a target of vaccinating almost one-tenth of the world’s population … must rely on a factory in Brasília, production lines in South Korea and a plant in the Indian city of Hyderabad. … With limited production capacity in Russia, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), … managing Sputnik […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russia registers 14,207 new Covid-19 cases, 394 deaths in past 24 hours – HQ” – Interfax
MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) – Russia registered 14,207 new Covid-19 cases and 394 deaths in the past 24 hours, the coronavirus response headquarters said in a statement on Monday. “Over the past day, 14,207 Covid-19 cases were confirmed in 85 regions of Russia, including 1,559 asymptomatic cases identified proactively (11.0%),” the headquarters said. The number of new Covid-19 cases has […]
» Read moreNo Sputnik Shot For Ukraine As Kyiv Bans Registration Of COVID Vaccines From ‘Aggressor States’
Ukraine’s government has banned the registration of vaccines for COVID-19 from “aggressor states,” a designation it has applied to Russia since 2015 […]
» Read morePandemic Death Toll in Russia Passes 70,000 But Daily Deaths Fall and More Regions Stabilize
… experts say … overall figures and the numbers Moscow reports … understate the impact of the pandemic, … many suggesting that the total number of deaths is not 70,000 but 110,000 or more […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Covid-19 vaccination using Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine starts in DPR and LPR” – Interfax
The vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus has begun in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) using the Russian vaccine […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Pandemic Pushed Russians’ Household Finances to Decade Low” – Moscow Times
The coronavirus pandemic pushed Russian living standards to their lowest level in a decade, [according to] new economic data published by the country’s statistics service […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Vaccine Is Now a Weapon in Ukraine’s Conflict With Russia” – Bloomberg/ Daryna Krasnolutska, Kateryna Choursina,
“Ukraine hasn’t started an inoculation program yet, while eastern regions allied with Moscow appear closer to getting shots.” “… Ukraine is the biggest of only a handful of [European] countries … not to begin injecting its people. … [T]here’s nothing to give the population of 42 million … [S]upplies the government has secured either haven’t been cleared for use or […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russia reports 18,241 new Covid-19 cases in past 24 hours, lowest amount since end of Oct – HQ” – Interfax
MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) – Russia has registered 18,241 new cases of Covid-19, the lowest daily number since the end of October 2020, and 564 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, the coronavirus response headquarters said on Tuesday. “Over the past day, 18,241 Covid-19 cases were confirmed in 85 regions of Russia, including 1,933 asymptomatic cases which were proactively […]
» Read moreMoscow Would Like to Vaccinate 80-90 Percent of Russians But Expects to Do Far Fewer
Consumer affairs chief Anna Popova says … Moscow would like to vaccinate 80 to 90 percent … by the end of 2021, but experts say … even 60 percent … would be “an extremely serious achievement” […]
» Read moreDuring Lockdown, Russian Women Drank More, Gained Weight and Took Less Care of Themselves, New Study Finds
One in seven acknowledged drinking more, one in 14 smoking, and slightly more than one in four overeating. Seventeen percent said … lockdown … led to conflicts among family members […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russia past peak of coronavirus epidemic – Rospotrebnadzor’s Epidemiology Institute” – Interfax
MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) – It looks like Russia has passed the peak of the coronavirus epidemic, and there is currently a trend toward stabilization, Deputy Director of Rospotrebnadzor’s Central Research Institute of Epidemiology for Clinical Analysis Natalia Pshenichnaya said. “We’re observing a certain trend toward stabilization,” Pshenichnaya told journalists on Friday. “Daily morbidity may still fluctuate, considering that Russia […]
» Read moreJRL 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 […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Pivotal moment approaching in coronavirus crisis, situation to start improving – PM Mishustin” – Interfax
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is expecting the start of recovery from the socioeconomic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic […]
» Read morePutin Orders Mass Coronavirus Vaccinations From Next Week
… Putin has ordered officials to begin mass vaccinations next week and to open up the inoculation program to all Russians […]
» Read morePandemic Pushing West to Cooperation and Reform But Russia to Reaction, Isolation, and Decay, Shevtsova Says
Because of the pandemic, 2020 was “the year of the Apocalypse” for both Russia and the West, but the two responded in opposite ways[…]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Most Small Businesses Still Struggling, Warns Top Business Lobby; Small companies twice as likely to be hit by pandemic” – Moscow Times
Russia’s small companies [reportedly] were almost twice as likely to suffer negative consequences from the coronavirus pandemic than their larger counterparts […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Why I Got the Russian Vaccine” – New York Times/ Andrew E. Kramer
“A New York Times reporter juggled fears engendered by the politicized rollout of the Sputnik V vaccine with the urge to gain protection from the deadly virus.” “… Russia’s coronavirus vaccine … Sputnik V[] [is] made at a factory outside of Moscow from genetically modified human cold viruses. Like so much else in Russia, … [its] rollout … was entangled […]
» Read moreMost Russians See Coronavirus as Top Event of 2020, Worry 2021 Will Be Tense
(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – RM Staff – Jan. 6, 2021) The Levada Center has just released the results of its latest annual poll on the most significant events of the past year, and, predictably, the global coronavirus outbreak tops the list. As many as 39 percent of Russians believe the pandemic was the most significant event of 2020, while […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “How Gamaleya’s Vaccine Works” – New York Times/ Jonathan Corum, Carl Zimmer
“The Gamaleya Research Institute, part of Russia’s Ministry of Health, developed a coronavirus vaccine known as Sputnik V or Gam-Covid-Vac. Gamaleya announced in December that the vaccine had an efficacy of 91.4 percent. Russia is using it in a mass vaccination campaign, and it is now being distributed in Argentina, Belarus and other countries ….” Click here for: “How Gamaleya’s […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Angela Merkel mulls Russian answer to EU coronavirus vaccine bottleneck” – The Times (UK)/ Oliver Moody
“… Merkel and … Putin have discussed the possibility of making a controversial Russian vaccine in the EU as bottlenecks in supply slow down [some] [European] inoculation [efforts] …. but only [after] … Sputnik V … [is] authorised by the EU medicines regulator. … [which] could take several months … [I]t is thought … the vaccine has yet to be […]
» Read moreFive Developments in Russia during 2020 Likely to Play Out in and Define 2021, Serenko Says
(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, Jan. 3, 2021) According to Andrey Serenko, head of Volgograd’s Analytic Center on Russian society, there were five developments in the Russian Federation during the last 12 months that are likely to play out with potentially serious consequences during 2021 (realtribune.ru/news/authority/5686). They are: 1. The quarantine regime and vaccinations. By late summer […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “After Momentous 2020, Russia’s Putin Enters New Year as Powerful as Ever; Kremlin leader takes action to cement his rule, repel challenges and spread Russia’s influence in moves that signal what’s likely to come next year” – Wall Street Journal/ Ann M. Simmons
“… [In] 2020 … Putin took bold moves to cement … power at home and extend … nearly two decades in power, a likely bellwether for [2021], when … [he] could squelch remaining domestic opposition and reinforce … influence abroad. … [D]issent has simmered. Massive protests in the Far East … over the arrest of a popular regional governor quickly […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russia’s Mortality Hit 16-Year High in November, Official Data Says” – Moscow Times
Russia recorded more than 2,500 excess deaths a day during November … by far the deadliest month since the start of the pandemic[] [acccording to] official figures […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia cuts size of COVID-19 vaccine study, stops enrollment” – AP
“Russia’s Health Ministry … cut … a [Russian] coronavirus vaccine [study from 40,000 to about 31,000] and stop[ped] … enrollment of volunteers. … a week after developers said enrollment … slowed since Russia began giving out the Sputnik V vaccine while the late-stage study was still continuing. They also cited ethical concerns about giving a dummy shot to some of […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia sets records for virus cases, deaths; According to a survey, only 38% of Russians are planning to get inoculated against the coronavirus” – AFP
“Russia … registered record numbers for [coronavirus] daily infections and deaths … as the country avoids reimposing a … lockdown. … [T]he country’s caseload … [of] 2,963,688 [] [is] the [world’s] fourth-highest …. They also registered … total fatalities … [of] 53,096 since the [pandemic’s] beginning …. [amidst] concerns … authorities could be downplaying the scale …. Data … [from] […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “Russia’s Response to the Coronavirus: The 2020 Timeline” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Leyla Latypova – Dec. 21, 2020) As the year of the coronavirus draws to a close and Russia’s total number of cases approaches 3 million, it’s time to look back at how the world’s largest country handled the pandemic. From the step-by-step closure of its borders at the beginning of the year to the mass […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s biggest retailers cap food prices after Kremlin intervention” – Financial Times/ Max Seddon
“Government says it will regulate cost of ‘socially significant goods’ if they climb more than 10%” “Russia’s top retailers have imposed caps on food prices … [T]he Kremlin moved to halt spiralling costs on essential goods …. sensitive to criticism of its economic record … having spent a much smaller percentage of [GDP] on … coronavirus relief … than other […]
» Read moreJRL NEWSWATCH: “Minimum 30 percent; The Russian authorities have set a coronavirus vaccination target, but will they have enough doses?” – Meduza
“Russia began a large-scale vaccination campaign on Monday, December 7. In Moscow and the Moscow region, the roll out happened … on December 5. So far, the results look modest … Sobyanin reported … 6,000 people had been immunized in the capital as of December 10, whereas the regions are, at best, reporting that they have received doses …. [A]uthorities […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “‘Gross Violation’: In Open Letter, Russian Scientists Criticize Lack of Vaccine Data; Russia has launched mass Sputnik V vaccinations. But concerns over weak data and cut corners continue to mount.” – Moscow Times
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Pjotr Sauer, Jake Cordell – Dec. 10, 2020) A group of scientists from leading Russian universities has blasted the development process of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine as “completely unacceptable” and “ridiculous” in an open letter raising new concerns over a lack of sufficient data on its safety and effectiveness. The experts said Russia’s state-run […]
» Read moreRUSSIALINK: “5 Questions About Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine, Answered” – Moscow Times
Hours after Pfizer-BioNTech made headlines … winning the first official general-use vaccine approval in the western world, … Putin ordered large-scale vaccination with [Russia’s] domestically produced] Sputnik V to start … late next week […]
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