Life in the Russian capital could return to normal by May, as long as people get vaccinated, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Sobyanin said "about 140,000 people" had been vaccinated in Moscow so far, in the first update since the end of last year on the vaccination drive in the capital.
But the figures - which represent just over 1% of Moscow’s inhabitants - are in line with previous independent estimates of Russia’s vaccination campaign, which suggested the country could be overstating the number of jabs it has administered by as much as fivefold.
In an interview broadcast on the state-run Rossiya 24 television channel Thursday, Sobyanin added that despite a slight decline in reported coronavirus infections in recent weeks, “the number of hospitalizations has not decreased” over the long Christmas and New Year holidays. Earlier in the day, the mayor said schools in the capital will reopen next Monday.
"The next few weeks will be crucial for understanding whether the infection rate will decline. If people are vaccinated, it will be possible to return to normal life in May," Sobyanin said.
Moscow has kept only limited coronavirus restrictions in place and avoided reintroducing stricter lockdown measures even as cases soared at the end of last year.