Ria.ru, reported on the vaccination rate in Russia "According to official statististic nearly 10 million Russians received two doses of the Sputnik V vaccine i.e. the share of the vaccinated constitutes less than 10% of the population.[1] In Russia the first carriers of the Indian strain of the virus have appeared. [2] The All-Russian Passengers Association has lobbied the Ministry of Transport to have the airlines offer a rewards program to passengers who have been vaccinated and the ministry is studying the proposal. [3] It is therefore clear Russia, a country that takes pride in the export of Sputnik V to other countries ("vaccine diplomacy") is having a tough time persuading its own citizens to get vaccinated. Writer and journalist Sergey Leskov believes that the problem lies in the voluntary nature of the vaccine program. To do something voluntarily means taking the initiative and a willingness to sacrifice now for future gains. Initiative taking has been bred out of Russian citizens, by governments that view initiative as a threat. Therefore, Russia has no choice but to make vaccination compulsory, just like attendance at Mayday rallies was compulsory back in the good old USSR.
Excerpts from Leskov's article follow below: [4]
Banner reads: "I got vaccinated against Covid-19" (Source: Vedomosti.ru)
"During the mandatory holidays [to combat the spread of Covid], the President of the Russian Federation made two statements regarding COVID-19: the first one is that the holidays curbed the growth of the pandemic; the second one is that the vaccination rate in Russia is dropping.
The citizens’ attitude towards the vaccination campaign is puzzling, considering the propaganda barrage about a miracle Sputnik V vaccine that Russia bestowed upon the suffering world much like the Savior, who fed the crowd with five [sic] loaves of bread.
"Meanwhile, for the first time in recent years, the state, which has perfected the skill of levying various fines, penalties and forfeits on the silent population, has displayed generosity and offered a free vaccination campaign. As a result, for 32 million doses vaccine doses produced, only 9 million citizens got the vaccine, for which, people stand in line for in other countries. By comparison, in the US 150 million people were vaccinated.
"Of course, it is vitally important for the Americans to be healthy, to flash a snow-white smile and say 'okay' on every corner. For the Russians there is no difference whether to stay in bed or to slave away at work. Still the mass indifference to the vaccination campaign after a long lock down and quarantine requires analysis and explanation.
"Let’s recall that President Putin before voluntarily getting his vaccination, which was designed to ensure the impregnability of the leader’s health (and to a larger degree serve as an example for the population) said that 60% of the population must be vaccinated and 70 million doses produced in order to achieve herd immunity. The latter goal is almost complete. The former, however, won’t be achieved until the end of the presidential term at the current pace.
Additionally, by 2024, vaccinated citizens will need to get a second, and then a third vaccination, since it seems that they will have to live a long time with the evil virus. In all likelihood, the good idea of voluntarily vaccinating Russian citizens awaits the fate of the [Putin’s unrealized] May decrees and national projects.
"As of now, to believe the polls, 60% of the country’s citizens do not want to get vaccinated. The failure of the vaccination campaign can be very costly. In 2021, over three months, the excess mortality in Russia has increased from 18 to 27%. in India, which frightens the world with its morbid statistics, there are 29 daily COVID-19 cases per hundred thousand of the population in Moscow there are 22 cases per the same hundred thousand. Of course, Moscow can provide much better healthcare than India, and thus, there are less deaths.
"However, the latest pandemic wave threatens to spread from the capital to other regions, including those which show problems with vaccine supplies, despite the overall large production volumes. By the way, this fact confirms the observation of the philosopher Berdyaev [Nikolai Berdyaev] that the [messianic] Russian national idea is not production, but distribution.
"Voluntary vaccination and the ultimate success of the fight against the pandemic depends on the trust between civil society and the authorities. The citizens’ unwillingness to heed the authorities’ pleas is a return boomerang effect on the state that painstakingly infringes on civil initiatives and rounds up the public, which has the effrontery to strive for an independent choice. Citizens were taught to keep their heads down, so it’s a hard task to appeal now to their initiative."
The Ministry of Health for the Rostov region in banner How to Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19 explains the steps for getting vaccinated. (Source: Salsk.org)
"The stable and proven modus vivendi for the majority of the Russian population states that the best way of conduct in relations with the state is to keep a respectful distance from it. [As the saying goes] “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts...”
"Voluntary vaccination is a sort of innovation in the field of healthcare. One assumes risk in return for future gains. But the “accursed” innovation is not our [Russian] way of doing things. Ten years ago, despite the efforts of propaganda and huge projects, such as the Skolkovo Innovation Center, the Russian campaign to create an innovative economy has failed. It was, like the ridiculous City of the Sun dreamed up by utopian socialists. My goodness who could come up with such ridiculous fantasies?! Innovation means competition and small business, which is alien to state monopolies, just as the proletariat is hostile towards capitalism.
"Any innovator, who dares to question what holds [society] together, is naturally hostile to the deep state and the protective tendencies of the Russian government...
"In my opinion, the vaccination should be more compulsory than voluntary, like participation in the May Day rallies used to be in the USSR. If one scrapes off the liberal glaze, we are still deep-down Soviet people, and there is no shame in that.
"As a doctor in the immortal Soviet movie “The Pokrovsky Gate” once said, “To hell with it [appendicitis]! Cut it out! Don’t wait for peritonitis to set in. This is the only progressive view."
Sergey Leskov (Source: Interaffairs.ru)
