Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Russian regions make vaccines mandatory for many workers

Authorities in four Russian regions have made coronavirus vaccines mandatory for people working in retail, education and other service sectors

Via AP news wire
Thursday 17 June 2021 14:13 BST
Virus Outbreak Russia Vaccination
Virus Outbreak Russia Vaccination (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Authorities in four Russian regions made coronavirus vaccines mandatory this week for people working in retail, education and other service sectors, part of an effort to boost the country's low immunization rates as COVID-19 cases continue to soar.

Moscow first announced the requirement Wednesday, and the surrounding Moscow region, the Siberian region of Kemerovo and the Far East region of Sakhalin promptly followed.

Officials in the four regions ordered businesses and institutions involved in retail, education, health care, public transportation, beauty, entertainment and other industries that serve a large number of people to ensure that at least 60% of their staffs are fully vaccinated.

In Moscow, the Moscow region and Kemerovo, officials set a mid-August deadline for the threshold to be reached. Sakhalin authorities did not set a deadline but said that individuals who refuse to get vaccinated without a valid medical reason would be suspended from work until they got their shots.

Russia was among the first countries in the world to deploy a coronavirus vaccine, and authorities have a goal of immunizing 60% of the country's adults, or about 69 million people, by the fall.

But Russia's vaccination rate has lagged behind many other nations. As of early June, 18 million people -- or just 12% of the 146-million population -- had received at least one dose. Experts have expressed that the government's target can be met.

The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected the idea of ordering mandatory vaccinations nationwide. Commenting on the move by the four regions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed Thursday that “it is not a sweeping (mandatory) vaccination of the population.”

“We are talking about mandatory vaccination for certain sectors of the economy. Considering how the wave of the outbreak is unfolding, it is rather justified,” Peskov said during a conference call with reporters.

He said regional governors made their decisions based on local infection trends and that “voluntary vaccination rates really leave room for improvement.”

Russia has reported more than 5.2 million confirmed virus cases and nearly 128,000 deaths in the pandemic. New daily cases have averaged around 14,000 this week, compared to last week's average of 9,000.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in