https://www.cnet.com/features/russia-au ... aking-now/
Russia approved a COVID vaccine a year ago. Why are deaths peaking now?
The country's official death toll is over 160,000 -- but the real number may be three times as high.
The official statistics say 164,000 Russians have died from COVID-19 but, with excess deaths standing at 531,000 since the pandemic began, experts analyzing excess mortality data estimate the true death toll could be triple the official count. That Vladamir Putin's administration can't be counted on to provide legitimate COVID numbers is part of the problem: After years of the government sowing disinformation, many Russians don't trust the Kremlin when it tells them to get vaccinated. With so many seeds of distrust planted, conspiracy theories flourish.
Russia has a dreadful vaccine hesitancy problem. Its Sputnik-V vaccine was authorized a year ago, in August 2020, and deployed in December. But nine months later, just 18% of Russians are estimated to be fully vaccinated. The more transmissible delta variant is proving ruinous in the face of such limited defenses. Case numbers are going up, and unlike in the more vaccinated US and UK, deaths are shooting up too. Death counts have been at a peak since the middle of July.
The official statistics say 164,000 Russians have died from COVID-19 but, with excess deaths standing at 531,000 since the pandemic began, experts analyzing excess mortality data estimate the true death toll could be triple the official count. That Vladamir Putin's administration can't be counted on to provide legitimate COVID numbers is part of the problem: After years of the government sowing disinformation, many Russians don't trust the Kremlin when it tells them to get vaccinated. With so many seeds of distrust planted, conspiracy theories flourish.
The country is home to a thriving black market for vaccination certificates, which are required for many hospitality, retail and transport employees to return to work. State TV last month warned of a growing trend, evidently spawned by a viral TikTok video, that sees Russians eluding the jab by getting the injection in a prosthetic limb.
COVID denialism and vaccine skepticism exists everywhere, but Russia has a unique problem.
Much of the population harbors a specific distrust of the Russian-made Sputnik-V vaccine.
"Sputnik-V has a horrible reputation in the country," says Andrei Soldatov, an author and senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, a nonprofit public-policy group. "Everybody hates it."
Even after it was deployed for widespread use in December, Putin hurt public perception of Sputnik by avoiding vaccination until March. Unusually for a president renowned for ostentatious photo ops, the Kremlin sent out no video or photo of the event. He didn't even say which vaccine he received -- not until two months later, after much questioning, did he reveal it was Sputnik-V.
