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Vladimir Putin says he received both doses of Sputnik-V, urges Russians to follow suit
Putin said that he felt he needed to be protected against Covid-19 for as long as possible and also said that he did not feel any significant side-effects barring tenderness at the jab site.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president on Wednesday said that he was vaccinated with Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) earlier in March and April during the annual nationwide televised phone-in show in Moscow, news agencies reported.
Putin said that he felt he needed to be protected against Covid-19 for as long as possible and also said that he did not feel any significant side-effects barring tenderness at the jab site. “After the first shot, I didn't feel anything at all. About four hours later, I felt that there was some tenderness where I had received the shot. I received the second at mid-day. At midnight, I measured my temperature. It was 98.9°F. I went to sleep, when I woke up my temperature was 97.8°F. That was it,” Putin told the nation.
Putin said that he is against mandatory vaccination but said that the army is getting vaccinated with Sputnik-V like him. He also defended the local authorities taking steps to ensure vaccination saying it is needed to avoid a national lockdown. “The military is getting vaccinated with Sputnik V, and after all I'm the commander-in-chief,” Putin said. The Russian president however urged Russians to not listen to rumours and pay heed to what the specialists are saying about the vaccine. He said it is ‘necessary’ to avoid listening to people ‘who understand less and spread rumours’.
Putin’s comments come in the backdrop of Russia reporting a record-high number of deaths from coronavirus in the last 24 hours and as daily case tally remained above 20,000. Russia on Wednesday reported 669 deaths and 21,042 fresh cases which brought the caseload to more than 5.5 million.
The government is also concerned about the vaccine hesitancy among Muscovites. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier this week admitted that Russia will fail to vaccinate 60% of the population within the fall season. Only 16% Russians have had at least one dose so far whereas the European Union and the United States have vaccinated more than 50% and 54% of its population respectively.
(with inputs from Reuters, Bloomberg)
