Russian President Vladimir Putin has been revaccinated against COVID-19, news agency Reuters reported. Putin, who was in June 2021 vaccinated with Sputnik V, told researchers at the Gamaleya Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology: "On recommendation of your colleagues, I got another vaccination, Sputnik Light." Gamaleya had developed the Sputnik V vaccine, which has been approved across the world, including in India.
Russia is currently reeling under an unabated spate of coronavirus casualties. Russia's record high coronavirus death toll persisted through the weekend, as the number of new infections declined. The daily new infections in recent weeks appear to have a downward trend, but still remain higher than during previous surges of the virus.
The latest surge in deaths comes amid low vaccination rates and "lax public attitudes" in Russia toward taking precautions. About 40 per cent of Russia's nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated, even though the country approved the domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V months before most of the world.
In total, Russia's coronavirus task force has reported nearly 9.3 million confirmed infections and 262,843 COVID-19 deaths, by far the highest death toll in Europe.
