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Coronavirus pandemic

Putin is in excellent shape, Kremlin spokesman says

Peskov kept quiet about the timetable of vaccinations Putin was going to follow

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov Sergei Bobylyov/TASS

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov

© Sergei Bobylyov/TASS

MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin is in excellent shape and vaccination helps maintain it, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Friday.

He kept quiet about the timetable of vaccinations the president was going to follow.

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Putin to himself announce when he is inoculated — Kremlin

"The president is in excellent shape and vaccinations are made to keep it this way. This is all I can tell you," Peskov said.

He avoided going into detail if Putin was vaccinated against flu last autumn.

"Listen, you are asking me for the president’s health report card," Peskov said, adding that he was not Putin’s doctor.

The Kremlin spokesman said that Putin’s conversation with the editors-in-chief of the leading mass media on February 10 was incorrectly interpreted by the daily Kommersant. In particular, this concerns the president’s intention to be vaccinated against the coronavirus towards the autumn.

"This (information - TASS) was incorrectly presented by [Andrei] Kolesnikov. There (at the meeting - TASS) such a possibility was mentioned, but at the same time other options were cited as well. In general, Kolesnikov reported it incorrectly. The president will say on his own when he will make a decision and get vaccinated," Peskov said. He remarked that the conversation about vaccination at the meeting with media editors would not be published.

"This is not allowed. He [Putin] said that he would declare this himself. I cannot. The head of state said that he would declare it personally. I cannot say: ‘No we will do this ourselves’," Peskov said to describe the situation.

About the references to the vaccination calendar, contained in the article in Kommersant and the most favorable periods for vaccination against flu and pneumococcus, Peskov said that "this information is true."

"He [Putin] did mention a whole set of vaccinations recommended by doctors. Including influenza and pneumococcus. It is true that flu (vaccination against flu) is made mostly in early autumn," Peskov said. He stressed the epidemiologists’ opinion to the effect flu spreads during the whole year and its waves change amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"As for pneumococcus (vaccination against it - TASS), it is made year-round," he added.

Peskov explained that Putin mentioned the timetable because doctors recommend many vaccines, but at proper intervals.

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