Why do the majority of Russians refuse to take the coronary artery vaccine? – NRK Urix – Foreign Documentary News

Russia is going through a new and dramatic wave of the Corona pandemic.

Within a few weeks, infection rates rose.

These are the bleak statistics:

• In the capital, Moscow, there was talk of a tripling of the number of new infected people, and now the more contagious delta variant fully prevails.
• Across the country, infection for a long time was about 9,000 new cases per day, now it is about 23,000 new cases per day.
• In recent days, new records in the number of Corona deaths were recorded for four consecutive days, on Friday, 679 deaths were recorded in one day.
• Recently, the Russian authorities said that 151,000 people were transferred to the Corona wards of hospitals.

Lockdown does not apply

The Russian authorities have already allowed the infection to develop for some time without taking drastic measures.

When the community closed a little over a year ago, it was very unpopular.

Many Russians lost their jobs and income. On Friday, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said:

– Nobody wants any closure, and yes, this is not up for discussion, said Dmitry Peskov, according to Agence France-Presse. He stressed that everyone should be vaccinated as soon as possible.

In some places in Russia, compulsory vaccination of occupational groups especially at risk has been introduced. This applies to those who work in the service industry, especially in the food service field. But also for health professionals, teachers and the police.

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Most say no

The independent polling institute Levada conducted surveys that showed that as many as 60 percent would not take one of the available Russian coronary artery vaccines.

This is fully consistent with the impression that NRK has gained by speaking to too many Russians during the period that the pandemic has been going on.

They have different reasons for saying no to a vaccine.

– We don’t know what the authorities put in this vaccine, the side effects can be dangerous, an acquaintance told me.

Others believe that the Russian vaccine has not been tested well enough.

To date, only about 16 percent of Russia’s population of 145 million has been vaccinated.

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State propaganda strikes back

The Russian Sputnik vaccine was registered in August last year.

Mass vaccination in Russia began in December about six months ago.

Major state media used the first year of the epidemic to report on the authorities’ control of the situation. It was repeated daily that conditions in other countries were much worse than in Russia. And that there was a severe shortage of the vaccine in the European Union.

Thus, the Russian authorities created the impression that the epidemic in Russia was not very serious.

Serious side effects of vaccines produced and used in Western countries have also been frequently reported.

It may have made the Russians doubt that their vaccines were safe.

In the past six months, there have been fairly modest infection control measures in Russia.

Until recently, people lived in Moscow as if the epidemic was not a big deal.

Only now are the authorities admitting that they will not receive herd immunity in September, as planned.

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The common denominator is mistrust

In the Soviet Union, this was a saying among government employees:

“The state is pretending to pay us and we pretend to work.”

A great deal of mistrust in the state leadership, politicians and state apparatus still exists in Russia.

Endemic corruption reinforces this perception among most people.

Many Russians believe that the state apparatus serves their own interests and not the interests of the people.

When the state orders something, the first reaction of many Russians is to avoid it or do the opposite.

This reluctance is so strong that it often dominates, even though state decisions can often be reasonable.

State media now constantly assert that it is far worse to become dangerous coronary artery than to risk any small side effects of the vaccine.

But this argument does not seem to resonate with most people.

In short, there is such a deep mistrust of the authorities that the Russians refuse the vaccine.

political significance

In the past six months, the Russian authorities have cracked down on political dissent around Alexei Navalny.

His organizations were labeled extremist, and all of their activities were banned. Including demonstrations in major Russian cities.

Navalny’s latest film about corruption at the summit in Russia was watched by about 120 million people.

The opposition itself says it was very important for the authorities to remove these critical voices before the parliamentary elections in September.

The ruling United Russia party has become less popular. New infection control measures could reinforce this trend.

Russian political leaders promised years ago a better standard of living, but most people suffered from the economic downturn.

The authorities are well aware that there is so much mistrust and mistrust among most Russians that only a spark is needed that can start a larger movement.

But at the same time, there is reason to note that support for President Putin remains high, at around 60 percent.