Synopsis
Russia s lagging vaccination rates hinge on several factors, including supply. Russian drug makers have been slow to ramp up mass production, and there were shortages in March in many regions.
AP
Waiting lists for the shot remain long in places
While at the Park House shopping mall in northern Moscow, Vladimir Makarov saw it was offering the coronavirus vaccine to customers, so he asked how long it would take.
“It turned out it s simple here 10 minutes,” he said of his experience last month.
But Makarov, like many Muscovites, still decided to put off getting the Sputnik V shot.
Russia boasted last year of being first in the world to authorize a coronavirus vaccine, but it now finds itself lagging in getting its population immunized.
MOSCOW
While at the Park House shopping mall in northern Moscow, Vladimir Makarov saw it was offering the coronavirus vaccine to customers, so he asked how long it would take.
“It turned out it’s simple here 10 minutes,” he said of his experience last month.
But Makarov, like many Muscovites, still decided to put off getting the Sputnik V shot.
Russia boasted last year of being first in the world to authorize a coronavirus vaccine, but it now finds itself lagging in getting its population immunized. That has cast doubt on whether authorities will reach their ambitious goal of vaccinating more than 30 million of country’s 146 million people by mid-June and nearly 69 million by August.
2021/05/03 14:10 MOSCOW (AP) While at the Park House shopping mall in northern Moscow, Vladimir Makarov saw it was offering the coronavirus vaccine to customers, so he asked how long it would take. “It turned out it’s simple here 10 minutes,” he said of his experience last month. But Makarov, like many Muscovites, still decided to put off getting the Sputnik V shot. Russia boasted last year of being first in the world to authorize a coronavirus vaccine, but it now finds itself lagging in getting its population immunized. That has cast doubt on whether authorities will reach their ambitious goal of vaccinating more than 30 million of country’s 146 million people by mid-June and nearly 69 million by August.
Despite boasting last year that it was the first country in the world to authorise a COVID-19 vaccine, Russia s inoculation campaign is lagging behind Western countries.
As of mid-April, over 1 million of Moscow s 12.7 million residents, or about 8 per cent, have received at least one shot, even though the campaign began in December.
That percentage is similar for Russia as a whole. Through April 27, only 12.1 million people have gotten at least one shot and only 7.7 million, or 5 per cent, have been fully vaccinated. That puts Russia far behind the U.S., where 43 per cent have gotten at least one shot, and the European Union with nearly 27 per cent.
Russia Paying Some Citizens to Take COVID Shot, But Only 5% Are Fully Vaccinated
On 5/3/21 at 12:43 PM EDT
A year after touting the authorization of its own coronavirus vaccine ahead of the rest of the world, Russia is struggling to convince its citizens to inoculate themselves, so Moscow is paying some people to get the Sputnik V shot.
Officials are offering $13 coupons (1,000 rubles) to Russians over 60 who get the vaccine in an attempt to inflate demand, according to the
Associated Press. In a country where members of this population receive monthly pensions of just $260 (20,000 rubles), the stipend is a substantial incentive.