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Moscow to build a shield against COVID-19 only if many citizens take jab shortly — mayor

Sergei Sobyanin noted that it was also crucial for everyone to comply with sanitary requirements

MOSCOW, June 20. / TASS /. Moscow can build a shield against COVID-19 only if a large number of residents receive vaccine within a short time and observe epidemiological measures, the Russian capital’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Sunday.

"There is nothing new here: first, it is necessary to get inoculated as quickly as possible, anyway it is the most reliable protection. Even if [vaccinated] people get sick, most of them don’t have a serious illness, while most do not get ill at all. It is essential that as many Moscow citizens as possible receive the jab in a short time, then a barrier will be built, a shield that will prevent the COVID-19 spread," Sobyanin told the Rossiya-1 TV channel while answering a question about protective measures against the Indian Delta COVID-19 strain.

Moscow’s mayor noted that it was also crucial for everyone to comply with sanitary requirements. "In transport, trade and public places. Unfortunately, the same rule today works not only for the elderly, because there are a lot of young people aged under 40 who are ill, this has never happened," Sobyanin stated.

Earlier, the capital’s mayor reported that a new strain of infection was detected in almost 90% of Moscow’s COVID-19 recent cases, it spreads faster and acts more aggressively than the Wuhan strain. According to Sobyanin, the mutated COVID-19 strain’s strength is the reason for the "explosive, enormous" surge in hospitalizations.

Moscow ranks first in Russia in terms of coronavirus cases. Overall, the capital reported 1,278,265 cases of infection. As many as 9,120 of them were recorded over the past day, which is the all-time high. A total of 1,113,794 people have recovered and 21,352 have died since the start of the pandemic.