pandemic
Russia wants to expand vaccine production
Vaccination with Sputnik V in Krymsk in southern Russia. Photo: Vitaly Timkiv / AP / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Russia is struggling with dramatic corona numbers. The vaccination quota is low and there is widespread skepticism – but the state wants to expand the production of its own vaccines.
In view of the dramatic corona situation in Russia, the country wants to expand its vaccine production. “We are in a position to achieve a production volume of two billion (cans) in the next year,” said the Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov on state television.
According to this, 300 million doses of Russian vaccines are to be delivered by the end of the year. The largest country in the world in terms of area with around 146 million inhabitants has several of its own vaccines against the coronavirus. Western preparations are not permitted. The vaccination campaign is running slowly because of widespread skepticism. According to statistics, only 40 percent of the population are fully protected.
On Saturday, the authorities again reported 1,254 corona deaths within 24 hours – a daily high since the beginning of the pandemic. In addition, there were 37,120 new infections within one day. The significantly more contagious Delta variant of the virus is also spreading in Russia.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church hopes that the pandemic can soon be overcome. “I don’t think God will put us to the test for long,” said Patriarch Kirill in an interview on his 75th birthday. But people in the modern world should understand that “we cannot always solve everything immediately, that it sometimes takes time and effort”.