Wednesday March 24th 2021
Russia’s media disappointed
Putin is not making a show of his vaccination
Russian President Putin is actually not considered camera shy. But the Kremlin boss receives his corona vaccination behind closed doors. The media in the country react with incomprehension.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had himself vaccinated against the coronavirus after receiving information from the Kremlin – but unlike many other heads of state, he was not filmed. The Kremlin chief feels good after the first of two necessary injections, said his spokesman Dmitry Peskov in the evening, according to the Tass state agency. On Wednesday there is “a full working day” for the president.
Before that, many in Russia had wondered why Putin, of all people, who was already posing with his bare torso while riding and at the doctor’s, behaves so camera-shy when vaccinating. “He doesn’t like it,” Peskow said earlier in the day. The president had never been a supporter of public vaccinations and was already doing a lot for the “propagation” of Russian vaccines. “All that remains is to take his word for it,” said Peskow.
For many hesitant Russians, the Kremlin chief’s vaccination should also lead them to trust the preparations developed in their own country. It is also not disclosed which of the three preparations developed by Russian researchers the President is vaccinating with. “All three vaccines are absolutely reliable,” said Peskow.
Putin had called Sputnik V, the first registered preparation, the best vaccine in the world. Even the state media reacted disappointed and said that pictures say more than words. Most recently, for example, Great Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson had the vaccine injected by Astrazeneca with publicity. According to the Interfax agency, the Kremlin spokesman said that by autumn at the latest, Putin wanted to return to a day-to-day work without restrictions on contacts and travel. There is a general election in September. For this, the president’s immunity must have reached the “necessary level”.
Putin’s vaccination is a widely discussed topic in Russia. At first he hesitated, then explained that Sputnik V was not approved for his age – he is 68 years old. After that, the drug was approved for over 60-year-olds, then it was said that the syringe did not fit into Putin’s “vaccination plan”.
On Monday, he then surprisingly announced that he would be vaccinated on Tuesday. The appointment should be in the evening. In Russia, comparatively few people are still vaccinated. According to official information, only 4.3 million people are fully supplied with both necessary syringes – that is just under three percent of the population of the gigantic empire.
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