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Russia passed the test on effective pandemic response, expert says

According to the President of the National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute", Russia wouldn’t have created the first vaccine in the world if it lacked the accumulated experience of Russian science

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. The actions of the Russian government aimed to curb the spread of COVID-19 and protect the economy were timely and effective, President of the National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute" Mikhail Kovalchuk said on the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Friday.

"If you don’t declare a lockdown before a certain date, then you’ll murder the medical sector because there will be so many patients that you won’t be able to treat them. <…> If you shut down [public places] too early, you’ll murder the economy. This is a very fine, complicated balance. <…> I think that thanks to the Rospotrebnadzor (Russia’s consumer rights watchdog — TASS), the government and the president, first and foremost, <…> the timeline of introducing or lifting quarantine measures was correct from a regulatory standpoint. Behind this, there is huge, colossal work that you cannot see, but it demonstrates the skills and the capabilities of the country and the state," Kovalchuk said, addressing Anna Popova, head of the consumer rights watchdog.

He added that Russia had passed this test better than the majority of developed states. "We definitely got a B [on this test]," Kovalchuk said.

When asked to assess the speed of development of the first COVID-19 vaccine in the world by Russian researchers, he pointed out the importance of the accumulated experience of Russian science, which helped the developers react quickly to the new threat.

"If we hadn’t been ready, we wouldn’t have created the first vaccine in the world. <…> We would be nowhere without roots and traditions," he concluded.