MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Tuesday that people who were not vaccinated against COVID-19 or did not have immunity would be unable to work in all workplaces in Russia and that those people could be discriminated against.
“The reality is such that discrimination will inevitably set in. People without vaccination or immunity will not be able to work everywhere. It is not possible. It will pose a threat to those around them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
President Vladimir Putin warned on Monday that the coronavirus situation in some Russian regions was getting worse as authorities began promoting the idea of regular revaccinations to try to halt a surge in new cases.
Russia reported 546 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, the most confirmed in a single day since February, and 16,715 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the continuation of a dramatic rise authorities have blamed on the new Delta variant.
The authorities are trying to coax and compel people to get vaccinated, offering those who do the chance to win new cars and flats, while threatening others who don’t with loss of earnings and dismissal.
The Kremlin on Friday blamed the increase in cases on people’s reluctance to have vaccinations and “nihilism”.
Russia has approved four domestically-made vaccines and sold its flagship Sputnik V vaccine to many foreign countries.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Alexander MarrowEditing by Katya Golubkova)
