The drive to achieve the necessary level of vaccination against coronavirus in Russia’s population can and should be completed within a few weeks, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Monday.
"I think that it [the vaccination campaign] can and should be completed. Just within several weeks," TASS cited him as saying.
The health minister stressed that this is not about compulsion. "The alternative is simple: if you don’t want to get vaccinated, stay at home. The only principle is not to create a threat to others. Under the current situation, I believe that people should be encouraged to make the right decision," he concluded.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova reported that it is desirable to reach the herd immunity up to the level of 90-95%, but at present the level stands at almost 80%. At the same time, in order to reach the level of 80%, it is necessary to vaccinate another 22 million people and revaccinate 9 million.
