MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. About 1 million people of the retirement age and older have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus in Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

"By now, one million of retirees in Moscow have been inoculated. There have been no serious consequences. On the contrary, we see that those people fall ill less often, and the mortality among them is way, way lower. That is why I would like to once again address Moscow residents of the older generation: even now, as the disease has started to decline, you are free to come to your out-patient clinic or to vaccination centers in parks at a convenient time, and finally get vaccinated," Sobyanin told the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Friday.

In his words, elderly people still account for the majority of coronavirus-related deaths. In Moscow, 80% of all coronavirus fatalities are registered among the elderly.

"As we can see, the situation is getting better and residents of Moscow are starting to relax. However, it’s too early to relax," Sobyanin said. "Regretfully, the disease is still here and it is coming in waves. That is why we need to take care of ourselves, to protect ourselves and to receive the vaccine in time."

He reiterated that the majority of those who had vaccinated do not fall ill, and if they do, their symptoms are way milder.

"We should get used to the idea that we will have to live in such conditions for quite a while, and we need to protect ourselves whenever possible. Millions, tens of millions of people have already been vaccinated in the country without any negative effects. Those who claim otherwise either have no understanding of the situation or are trying to deliberately stir up controversies. They incite people to remain unprotected in the face of the novel coronavirus infection, and this is bad," he said.

The mayor advised people "to follow recommendations of professionals, of scientists who operate really big data, who have true information about outcomes of researches and so on.".