Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told a government
meeting Wednesday that 82.8% of 301,500 hospital beds reserved for coronavirus
patients were filled as of Tuesday morning.
“So far we can’t confidently say that the situation has
stabilized and the spread of infection has declined,” Golikova, who runs the
country’s state coronavirus task force, told a government meeting Wednesday.
The task force registered yet another record for coronavirus
deaths Wednesday — 1,239, up from Tuesday’s record of 1,211. Officials also
reported 38,058 new infections. Around 40,000 cases and over 1,100 deaths have
been registered every day since late October.
Russia’s autumn surge in infections and deaths comes amid
low vaccination rates, lax public attitudes toward taking precautions and the
government’s reluctance to toughen restrictions.
Less than 40% of Russia’s nearly 146 million people have
been fully vaccinated, even though Russia approved a domestically developed
COVID-19 vaccine months before most countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered many Russians last
month to stay off work between Oct. 30 and Nov. 7. He authorized regional
governments to extend the number of non-working days if necessary, but only
five Russian regions have done so.
Other regions have restricted access to restaurants,
theaters and other public places only to those who have been fully vaccinated,
have recovered from COVID-19 within the last six months or tested negative in
the previous 72 hours.
It is yet to be seen whether the non-working period is
paying off, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week.
On Tuesday, authorities in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second
largest city and the second hardest-hit among Russian regions, made
vaccinations mandatory for those older than 60 and those suffering from chronic
illnesses. St. Petersburg residents that fall into either of the two categories
must get their first shot before Dec. 15 and complete their vaccination before
Jan. 15.
Russia currently has four domestically developed vaccines on
offer, with Sputnik V and its one-dose version, Sputnik Light, being the
dominant ones.
Sputnik V was approved last August with much fanfare at home
and criticism abroad, because at the time it had only been tested on a few
dozen people. But a study published in British medical journal The Lancet in
February showed the Sputnik V is 91% effective and appears to prevent
inoculated individuals from becoming severely ill with COVID-19.
Two other Russian vaccines, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac, have
also received regulatory approval before completing late-stage trials experts
say are necessary to ensure their safety and effectiveness in line with
established scientific protocol. Developers of both are yet to release the
results of these trials.
In total, Russia’s state coronavirus task force has reported
8.9 million confirmed infections and 250,454 deaths — by far the highest death
toll in Europe, which some experts believe to be a undercount.
Reports by Russia’s own statistical service Rosstat, whcih
tally coronavirus-linked deaths retroactively, reveal much higher mortality
numbers: 462,000 people with COVID-19 died between April 2020 and September
this year.
Russian officials have said the task force only includes
deaths for which COVID-19 was the main cause and uses data from medical
facilities. Rosstat uses wider criteria for counting virus-related deaths and
takes its numbers from civil registry offices where registering a death is
finalized.
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