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Putin says he got flu shot on Tuesday

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to TASS in reply to a clarifying question, that the flu vaccine was meant

NOVO-OGARYOVO, December 14. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he had been vaccinated against the flu.

"Remember, I asked you a few days ago whether one should get a jab or not? You told me yes, we should," Putin said, addressing chief sanitary doctor Anna Popova at a government meeting after her report on the situation with the incidence of acute respiratory viral infections and influenza in the country.

"So I report - I got [a jab] yesterday. I also advise this to all my colleagues. Today I did sports in the morning as usual, routinely, everything is normal, no questions asked," the president said.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to TASS in reply to a clarifying question, that the flu vaccine was meant.

Popova, who heads the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, said the swine flu virus, first identified in 2009, is now prevalent in Russia. It remains responsive to medication, she added. According to Popova, the situation with swine flu in Russia is controllable. However, she drew attention to the fact that the share of the vaccinated among those who have caught the flu is less than one percent.

As for the coronavirus situation, the chief sanitary doctor said the incidence is five times lower than the year before. However, "it still causes certain wariness," she added.

Putin got a Sputnik Light vaccine booster against coronavirus in November 2021. On the following day after the jab, he also tested a nasal spray against coronavirus. The president got his first two-jab Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 in the spring of 2021.

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