MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. The live TV vaccination of US President-elect Joe Biden against COVID-19 doesn’t serve as a justification for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to be inoculated in public, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

"Absolutely [not]," he replied, when asked whether Biden’s example could prompt Putin to go through that procedure in public. "We are a country that can stand on its own two feet, we have a completely self-reliant president who is just as experienced as Mr. Biden," Peskov insisted.

He added that "the president continually deals with the issue of people’s vaccination, he is the driving force that is pushing all government agencies to continue mass vaccination in all regions."

Peskov noted that Putin had provided an exhaustive explanation at his annual press conference on why he had not yet been vaccinated against coronavirus.

On Monday, US President-elect Joe Biden received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech live on TV.

At his annual news conference on December 17, the Russian leader assured that he would be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as soon as possible. Putin explained that he heeded the recommendations of experts concerning age restrictions for inoculation at this stage.