MOSCOW, June 25. /TASS/. Russian vaccines give effective protection against novel coronavirus, as COVID-19 is recorded just in 0.5% of those individuals, who have competed the full course of vaccination, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Friday.
"We see that citizens are actively coming for the vaccination to protect their health and the health of their loved ones. And the Russian vaccines offer such protection. According to the federal patient registry, to date - during the entire coronavirus outbreak - COVID-19 has been diagnosed in only 0.5% of citizens, who previously received two doses of the vaccine," he said at a meeting of the anti-coronavirus crisis center.
The minister added that vaccinated people experience milder symptoms of the disease.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said that herd immunity may be achieved in Russia by September 2021. Prior to that, she had indicated August 2021 as the approximate deadline, noting that if the vaccination rates increased, that timeframe could be moved forward.
To date, almost 16.7 million Russians have already had the full dosage of a coronavirus vaccine, and 14 million people have received the first dose. More than 5.3 million Russians have had COVID-19. According to her estimates, 60% of the population, or almost 69 million people, need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.