MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. A possible increase in COVID-19 incidence in Russia in the spring of 2022 will be unnoticeable if the population is vaccinated in advance, virologist Yevgeny Timakov told Channel One on Wednesday.
"When the spring season begins, suitable for the [coronavirus] propagation, if we get a new mutation, we’ll see another wave, if by that time we are ready [due to vaccination] for the fourth wave already and not like now with this third wave, then in fact we’ll experience it unnoticeably," he said.
"The virus at that time (the spring of 2022 - TASS) in the countries with a small scope of vaccination will continue to mutate," the expert stressed.
Earlier, the virologist told TASS that the third wave of the coronavirus infection in Russia is at its peak and will remain active for at least three more months.
According to the latest global statistics, about 191.5 mln people have been infected worldwide and more than 4.1 mln deaths have been reported. To date, 6,030,240 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 5,404,797 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 150,705 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.