When Russian bad boy Vladimir Putin was asked if he supports a national lockdown, he said no because regional authorities are mandating vaccinations at the local level, including other mitigations, to avoid lockdowns.
At least on the national level, the Russkies are unwilling to force vaccinations to avoid destroying their economy again. If given the chance, our Democratic Party would have us all in cages inside our homes with an Agenda 21 theme.
President Putin on Wednesday said he was against mandatory coronavirus vaccinations for Russians but urged his people to get the jab, as his country combats a deadly third wave.
Putin’s comments were made back in June when it was reported that 669 COVID deaths happened over a twenty-four-hour period.
In mid-June, Russia experienced a spike during a third wave of the COVID brought on by the delta variant, which was first identified in India.
Though vaccinations are provided for free and like the US are readily available, since early December, only about fifteen percent of Russia’s population had gotten vaccinated with at least one dose, according to Gogov, a website that tallies COVID numbers for some regions.
Apparently, Russia still has the authoritarianism bug in many of its leaders as the low rate of vaccinations caused Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to order mandatory vaccinations for people working in the service sector with over a dozen regions in the country following suit.
Naturally, this prompted concerns that all Russians will eventually be forced against their will to get vaccinated, but Putin rejected that sentiment while taking questions during an annual phone-in session.
“I do not support mandatory vaccinations,” the Russian president said. He went on, as he has repeatedly done over recent months, to suggest Russians get vaccinated. That’s the way it should be. Government should try to encourage people to get vaccinated, but the ultimate decision should be left up to the individual.
“It is necessary to listen, not to people who understand little about this and spread rumours, but to specialists,” he told his people, the majority of whom polls show oppose receiving coronavirus jabs.
“If a person is sick without a vaccine, then the long-term consequences can be very serious,” the 68-year-old Russian leader said.
Surveys conducted reveal that the Russian people are especially skeptical of the country’s homegrown vaccines: Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, CoviVac and the one-dose Sputnik Light.
The former KGB man said that the four Russian vaccines are better than foreign alternatives mentioning AstraZeneca and Pfizer by name. Putin said that he has been vaccinated with Sputnik V.
The Russian president’s appeal for Russians to get vaccinated came after the Kremlin admitted that their target of having 60 percent of the country vaccinated by the fall will not be achieved.
Critics argue that this third wave of coronavirus cases has been sparked by a failure to do lockdowns, even though the world’s top epidemiologists concur that not only do lockdowns not work, but they exacerbate the number of infections. However, the Russians have a struggling economy to worry about, so for now, the politicians are reluctant to shut down their economy once again.
When asked if he supports new lockdowns, Putin said regional officials are promoting local mandatory vaccinations and other measures to avoid pushing new lockdowns. So, you see, American tyrant progressives? The Russkies do support your silliness with mandating vaccines. They just realize that lockdowns do nothing but destroy economies.
At least Russian officials are aware of COVID mitigations causing economic despair, unlike their American Democratic Party counterparts, who prefer as many people not working as possible because they tend to become dependent on government and vote for Democrats who promise to increase their government handouts.
In Moscow, the nation’s capital, which is now the epicenter of outbreaks for the country, Mayor Sobyanin ordered businesses to send home thirty percent of unvaccinated employees and has told restaurants to only allow customers in who have been vaccinated or who have had coronavirus in the past six months, presumably because they have antibodies to protect them.
St. Petersburg is another hotspot for COVID infections and they avoided lockdowns for the same reasons; the economy.
Infections spiked nationally in June around June 23rd by 21,042, which tallied Russia’s number of cases to over 5.5 million, which is about the 5th highest caseload worldwide, according to an AFP news tally.
It’s official. Russia is now less authoritarian than the United States. That doesn’t mean local governments aren’t forcing vaccination mandates, but at least Putin has his head on straight when it comes to keeping their economy alive even through the politics.
