Moscow death record amid vaccine skepticism

Moscow recorded its deadliest day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic with 144 deaths in the last 24 hours, while authorities continue to worry about citizens’ skepticism about vaccines that could curb infections in Russia.

On a national level, 20,538 new cases and 599 deaths were recordedAFP news agency reported.

With only 21.2 million inhabitants with at least one dose Out of a population of 146 million, according to figures from the Gogov site, which aggregates data provided by the regions and the media, the Delta variant, initially detected in India, is at the origin of the third wave that has hit Russia since the mid-June, the sixth country with the most deaths after the United States, Brazil, India, Mexico and Peru.

The effects of this variant, which is particularly contagious in non-immune people, they redouble the efforts of the authorities convince its citizens to get vaccinated.

“To stop the pandemic, one thing is necessary: rapid and large-scale vaccinations. Nobody has invented another solution, “assured the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin.

Faced with this rebound, Moscow reintroduced restrictions such as teleworking mandatory, the creation of a health pass to go to restaurants or the imposition of vaccines in the tertiary sector, but it does not yet envisage strict confinement.

Delta variant

According to Sobianine, nearly 2,000 people are hospitalized daily due to Covid-19 and of the 20,000 beds available, 14,000 are currently occupied.

“It’s a lot”the mayor, who has insisted for weeks on the need to be vaccinated to stop the pandemic, said in a television interview.

The pandemic already kills 3,919,801 worldwide and nearly 181 million people infected, although vaccination campaigns reduce the number of infections, especially in developed countries like the United States and those in the European Union, which are lifting restrictions.

This improvement is threatened by the extension of the Delta variant, considered the most contagious of those detected to date and present in at least 85 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Russia has recorded more than 5.4 million people infected and 133,282 deaths, the highest figure in Europe, according to the official report.

Source: AFP, EFE and Télam

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