Question: Mr President, it is now time for your second shot. We would like to know how it’s going, what about your antibody titre? How do you assess the overall vaccination situation around the country?
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: According to the experts, the situation is stable.
As they say, the trend is flat now, I mean it is not rising but is at the same level it reached over the previous period. All these figures have been made public: more than 8,000 new cases, but more people are recovering, thank God. Therefore, we need to continue both our testing and vaccination efforts. These two components are very important in order to overcome this pandemic and its consequences.
As for your humble servant, yes, indeed I took the test yesterday, on May 9, and yes, I tested positive for antibodies.
You are asking about the titre, but experts now prefer talking in terms of the coefficient of positivity – mine is 15. The doctors say it is a good result.
In this connection, I would like to say that we have 21.5 million people vaccinated. The results are very good across the country. And as I did in my previous statements, I would like to urge people to get vaccinated without wasting any time. I know many are on holiday, but the days off are almost over. So in the future, if you have any symptoms, please see a doctor immediately without waiting for the disease to develop.
I spoke with Ms Popova, the chief sanitary doctor, today. I would like to repeat, on my behalf and also for her, I am appealing to our people, our citizens, to join the vaccination programme. Once again, I would also like to remind the regional leaders of the need to comply with the target figures for COVID-19 testing and vaccination. And of course, the current sanitary rules developed by the experts need to be observed at all times. In no case should you neglect the recommendations they give – citizens are required to wear facemasks and comply with the other precautions. This is the only way we can succeed. But I am sure we will, I have no doubt.