Putin remains in self-isolation despite being vaccinated
Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in self-isolation despite being vaccinated against coronavirus in April, reported Proekt Meria, citing sources close to the Kremlin.
According to the publication, Putin has not changed and does not plan to change the the procedure established since the beginning of the pandemic, requiring that people meeting with him quarantine and meetings take place over video.
Although Putin, in his own words, passed an antibody test that showed a "positivity ratio of 15", people in contact with the Russian President still must quarantine for up to two weeks.
For example, Hermitage staff were locked up before Putin's visit on April 27 (five weeks after Putin’s vaccination), a museum employee told Proekt Media. People who were in contact with the President at the Victory Parade had to go through the same procedure. Protocol staff and photographers spent two weeks in the President's Hotel.
No changes to these procedures are expected in the near future. All journalists and employees of the Kremlin administration who will be in contact with the President at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in early June, as before, will be quarantined in advance. According to an employee of one of the media outlets, they will be isolated from the 20th of May.
Most of the operational meetings with Putin will continue to be held over video. This is how the meetings of the Security Council will be held in May, the source of Proekt Media claims.
Most Putin's meetings at the end of April took place in the same format. The participants had to quarantine for 2 weeks before face-to-face meeting with Putin.
Most likely, Putin will live in isolation for a long time, said a Proekt’s source of close to the presidential administration.
Putin himself said last week that Russian vaccines " are as reliable as Kalashnikov [automatic rifles]," and on Monday reported a "stable situation" with coronavirus in the country. “We have everything lying on the shelf and not increasing. It stays at the same level as it was the previous time," the President said.
He added that 21.5 million people had already been vaccinated in the country. "As in my previous speeches, I would like to urge people to get vaccinated without wasting their time," Interfax quoted Putin as saying.
As for the Kremlin journalists, who should accompany Putin everywhere and see him live, this issue is not on the agenda at all, Proekt reports.
On March 23, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Vladimir Putin had been vaccinated against coronavirus.
"After Putin's vaccination, a full working day awaits tomorrow," Peskov told TASS news agency.
At the same time, Peskov did not specify what vaccine Putin was vaccinated with. To the question of RIA Novosti, he said that that was one of the three Russian vaccines, "they are all good and reliable."
Earlier (before the end of trials of vaccines on the elderly) Vladimir Putin explained that he did not vaccinate against coronavirus infection because of age: "Specialists tell us that those (Russian) vaccines that enter the civil circulation today, are provided for citizens in a certain age zone. And the vaccines haven't been approved for people like me yet. I am a law-abiding person in this sense, I listen to the recommendations of specialists," Putin said.