For 20 consecutive months, Yevgeny Ryabov witnessed COVID-19 patients coming in and out of the doorways of a Hospital in Moscow, some walking out alive and some living forever.
Time and time again, Ryabov watched as the coronavirus devastated the patient's body. Some dying people regret that they did not get vaccinated at the end of their lives.
"They usually make excuses and delay until 'tomorrow', but unfortunately, they don't have tomorrow anymore." In an interview with Agence France-Presse on October 22, Ryabov made such a meaningful remark.
Recently, shocking news about the epidemic in Russia has followed. Tass news agency data on the afternoon of October 26, Russia in the past 24 hours confirmed the number of daily confirmed cases reached 36,466, the number of deaths of 1,106 people, are the highest since the outbreak of the epidemic. So far, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in Russia has reached more than 8.3 million, and the number of deaths has exceeded 230,000.
Earlier, on October 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin officially announced that due to the spread of the epidemic, the whole country will take 9 days of paid leave from October 30 to November 7, and local governments can also take holidays in advance or extend the holiday time according to local conditions. It has aroused strong attention and scrambled reports from the media of various countries.
Why is the epidemic in Russia so serious? Vaccination rates of only about 33% are one of the most immediate causes. Although the new crown vaccine "Satellite V" was developed early, Russia's vaccination rate is not only lower than that of developed countries including the Group of Seven (G7), but also lower than that of countries receiving "Satellite V" such as Brazil and Iran, and is close to thailand's vaccination rate. Low vaccination rates have also kept russia's deaths high.
But behind this, it reflects russia's epidemic prevention policy, government structure, and public awareness of various problems. The combination of these elements has led to a situation that seems to be "unmanageable" today.
CGTN picture of healthcare workers fighting COVID-19 in Sokolniki, Russia
"Remorse and pleading in Russian hospitals"
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Russia has experienced several waves of peak cases. In the winter of last year, the number of confirmed cases in Russia climbed from an average of about 5,000 per day to an average of more than 20,000 cases per day.
As temperatures have picked up and COVID-19 vaccines have been introduced, the number of confirmed cases in Russia has declined. But since June this year, the number of confirmed cases in Russia has returned to an average of more than 20,000 cases per day. After entering October, the number of confirmed cases climbed to an average of more than 30,000 cases per day.
Tass reported 36,466 daily confirmed cases and 1,106 deaths on October 26, a record high.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the number of confirmed cases and deaths in Russia on the 23rd hit a new high
Putting aside the cold numbers, the loss of some living lives highlights the grim situation of the epidemic. On October 18, the appetizer of the b station account @ Pavlov was updated late at night, indicating that he had just received a notice from the family of uncle Pavlov, the original owner of the account, and the uncle was unfortunately infected with the new crown, the treatment was ineffective, and he died a few days ago.
Uncle Pavlov is a Russian food up master, since last year on the b station to share some Russian food and wine with netizens, because of his optimism of "toasting to everything" won the love of netizens, in more than a year accumulated 150,000 fans.
And his sudden death not only made those netizens who met him in the network gather in the comment area to have a "cloud mourning", but also made many people realize the seriousness of the epidemic in Russia.
There are also some appalling images that spread on russian social media VK. According to a paraphrase by the American Daily Beast, a patient who died of COVID-19 was lying in bed in a hospital in Novouralsk, Russia, unattended. The person who posted the video ran down the hallway, screaming with exhaustion, trying to get paramedics to stop and take care of the dead. But in the video for more than a minute, no one answered her request.
A scene of a hospital circulating on VK
Later, oksana Kuznetsova, the niece of the deceased, blogged that her uncle Vadim was admitted to the hospital on Oct. 5, but there was no time to care for him. The person who filmed the video later told Kuznetsova: "He suffocated to death. I went to the doctor, but not a single one. Vadim eventually died on October 12.
After the video went viral on social media, the local commission of inquiry began investigating the case. Eventually, the local government decided to fire the hospital's director, Victor Dolgushin.
But the "Daily Beast" believes that behind this scene is that the current Russian hospitals are being strongly affected by a new round of epidemics. The shortage of health care workers is exacerbating the crisis. Some retired medical staff have also returned to the front line to fight the epidemic urgently.
On the 22nd, officials said that The hospital beds in Russia were quickly used up, and Denis Protsenko, an authoritative doctor in Russian epidemiology, also said on the same day that the situation was "close to critical" and vaccination was in a state of pause.
Long before the advent of Russia's "satellite V" vaccine, 5 of Ryabov's colleagues had already died of COVID-19. But after the vaccine came out, all he saw in the hospital was "pleading and remorse."
Olga Ryzhko, a 51-year-old architect who has been freed from a serious illness, lay in a hospital bed and said: "I know that if it wasn't for them (the medical care) who saved me, I wouldn't be here." She is not an anti-vaccine person but has been delaying vaccination.
Of course, not everyone is as lucky as Lizko. Over the past month, the woman who shares the intensive care unit with Lizko has been actively encouraging her to continue her fight against the disease. But on Monday (25th), she unfortunately died of new crown pneumonia.
"It's really scary." Lizko said.
Why is the vaccination rate so low for the earliest registered vaccine?
Many experts and the media, including Ryabov, attribute russia's current situation to low vaccination rates. According to Our World in Data, Russia currently receives a total of 101 million doses of vaccines and 47.9 million people with two doses, or 33.2% of the population.
In terms of the proportion of vaccinations, Russia is not only far lower than the G7 group and a number of European countries, but also lower than Iran (35.9%) and Brazil (54.3%), two countries that have received the "satellite V" vaccine. As of September 30, Iran had received a total of 60 million doses of Satellite V, while Brazil had received 10 million doses and produced 8 million doses domestically.
In terms of production, "Satellite V" does not seem to be a big problem. So far, 75 countries or regions have declared the emergency use of "satellite V", 2 countries have declared full authorization to use, and more than 100 million doses of vaccines have been widely sold overseas.
So, is there a problem with the effectiveness of the vaccine? Satellite V is the world's first registered vaccine, which was commissioned on August 11 last year. Initially, there were indeed questions about the effectiveness and safety of Satellite V, and so far the World Health Organization (WHO) has not included vaccines on the emergency use list.
Russia's "satellite V" vaccine The Paper
However, on February 2 this year, the internationally renowned medical journal "The Lancet" published an article saying that the latest interim analysis of the phase III clinical trial of the Russian "sputnik V" vaccine showed that the effectiveness of the vaccine could reach 91.6%.
Many Western media believe that the people's non-cooperation is another major reason why the epidemic in Russia has not been alleviated. In addition to the occasional anti-lockdown demonstrations, people do not cooperate with prevention and control measures, and news of non-vaccinations is frequently reported.
For example, Charles Maynes, NPR's Russian correspondent, claimed that although third-party agencies have verified the effectiveness of Russia's "satellite V" vaccine, Russians do not trust the country's "official media full of conspiracies and propaganda distrust," which has also led many to deny the vaccine's effectiveness.
A 73-year-old man named Markov told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) this month that he had not been vaccinated due to "potential health problems." "I don't think it's right for them to force people to do that (get vaccinated)." Pensioners are the 'target' again? This is totally unacceptable. ”
Moscow Mayor Sobyanin called on people, especially the elderly, to be vaccinated. He noted that vaccination rates are slightly higher than 30 percent for people over the age of 60 in Moscow, while 86 percent of those over the age of 60 have died of COVID-19 in Moscow hospitals.
Not only the elderly, but also the young. Elena Romachenko, 34, believes a person can control their health. "Eat well and do sports," she said. "Go to the resort, go to the beach, go to the mountains, and you'll be healthy."
But Pavel Volchkov, head of the genome engineering laboratory at the Institute of Physics and Technology, believes that most people who refuse to be vaccinated are not against vaccines, but think they don't need them.
"I call it superhero syndrome." He summed it up this way.
In order to promote the vaccine, many places in Russia have issued lottery tickets, prize money and other incentives to speed up the injection. Moscow has introduced a semi-mandatory measure, stipulating that from next Monday, if people over the age of 60 have not been vaccinated or have been infected with the virus, they must stay at home until February 25.
Putin has also repeatedly called on people to be vaccinated. On the 20th local time, he held a video conference with Russian government personnel to call on the Russian people to actively vaccinate, and said that vaccination is better than infection with the new crown virus.
Putin announced a holiday on the 20th
Putin said on the same day: "It is best to get vaccinated. Why wait for the disease and its serious consequences? ”
Putin also said: "I once again call on all of our people to actively vaccinate (vaccines)." It's about your protection, your safety, your lives, and finally, the health of your loved ones. ”
The low vaccination rate of the vaccine has led to a high number of deaths in Russia. At present, the number of daily confirmed cases in the United Kingdom is similar to that in Russia, at a high of about 36,000 cases. But the average daily death toll in the UK hovers around 100, far less than Russia's more than 1,000.
How did the epidemic in Russia get to this point?
From the very beginning, Russia's foreign policy of prevention and control seemed to be going in the wrong direction. When the outbreak of the epidemic in Wuhan, Russia immediately closed the Sino-Russian border crossings in the Far East, and suspended the issuance of paper or electronic visas to Chinese citizens, and then strictly restricted the entry of people from South Korea, Iran and other epidemic areas. But the problem is that the real threat comes from Europe, not China.
At the end of February, the outbreak of the epidemic in southern European countries was concentrated, and people traveling in countries along the Mediterranean coast contracted COVID-19 on a large scale, but it did not attract enough attention from Russia. So, when the epidemic broke out in Italy, a large number of Russians also went to southern Europe for vacations.
It wasn't until 13 March that WHO declared Europe the hardest hit that Russia began restricting flights between the European Union and Switzerland, but flights from Moscow to European capitals remained unimpeded. It was only on March 27 that the suspension of all international flights was finally announced.
During this period, at least 1.5 million people returned home from Europe, which opened the door to the spread of the epidemic. Before April 8, 2020, 60% of the russian confirmed medical records were from Europe. From the beginning of April to the beginning of May, the number of new infections in a single day increased geometrically. After two months of strict control, the number of new infections in a single day still exceeded 6,000.
As Zhang Hanhui, Chinese ambassador to Russia, pointed out on April 17 last year, the rapid outbreak of the epidemic in Europe was unexpected by Russia, which brought great internal and external troubles to Russia's epidemic prevention and control.
Subsequently, many places in Russia have successively implemented measures such as lockdowns and home isolation. However, the gap between the Russian federal government and local governments, as well as the non-cooperation of the people, has never allowed Russia to implement a complete "blockade" in the true sense.
Last year, anti-blockade marches broke out in Russia. During this year's European Championship, the scene where many fans gathered together without wearing a mouth, which was even more shocking.
The Guardian recounted that on Friday (22nd) night, the streets of Moscow were full of energy. In a downtown bar called Simach, sweaty people dance and there is a long line outside. "Looking at the crowd, it's easy to forget that Russia is at the epicenter of the global COVID-19 pandemic."
"Thank God we could go to the bar without any restrictions. I'm against any blockade, they're going to ruin my business," said Natalia Draganova, 34. She runs a small clothing store in Moscow.
Yuan Quan, a columnist for the Observer Network and a teacher at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Harbin Engineering University, once wrote that the outbreak of the epidemic reflects the inefficiency of Russia's political system. Russia's political system is in fact a bottom-up federalism with local power in its own right. Although Putin took a series of measures to "cut the domain" after coming to power and gathered power back to the central government to a certain extent, he still could not effectively implement the state's decrees to the grass-roots level.
"Over time, bureaucracy between Russian government departments, between the central and local governments, and between the government and the grass-roots level has become increasingly serious, and the selective implementation of the decisions of the localities, departments, and grass-roots levels to the government and even the violation of the yin and yang has become the norm, making it difficult for the state's policies to be implemented (or to implement deviations)."
On October 20, Putin took Vice Prime Minister Golikova's advice to take at least nine days of paid leave across the country from October 30 to November 7. In fact, this is not the first time that Putin has taken a holiday because of the epidemic. In March this year, Putin announced a one-week national holiday due to the epidemic; in May, Putin issued a presidential decree linking Labor Day with the Victory Day holiday, and the country was closed for 10 consecutive days. The previous holidays and work stoppages have not effectively curbed the epidemic. So, can the current holiday initiatives really work well?
For the Russian government, it is almost impossible to continue to implement anti-epidemic measures. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the government has always oscillated back and forth between controlling the epidemic or developing the economy. Russia's economic development has come to a standstill under the impact of the epidemic, and if the resumption of work and production is not resumed as soon as possible, economic problems may evolve into political and social problems. This has led to the Russian state's tight and lax prevention and control of the epidemic.