A record number of Covid-19 casualties were registered in Russia on Saturday for the fifth day in a row – 697 people died in 24 hours, according to data released by the operational headquarters.
679 Covid-19 victims were registered in Russia on Friday.
In Russia, 24,439 new cases of Covid-19 were registered during the day, the highest number recorded in 24 hours since mid-January.
More than 5.5 million people have been confirmed with the new coronavirus in the country since the pandemic began, and 137,262 people have died from Covid-19.
The new coronavirus delta, or Indian strain, is currently spreading rapidly in Russia, but the pace of the vaccination campaign has slowed.
So far, only 16% of 146 million Russians have been vaccinated in Russia.
Moscow, which reported 116 deaths in the last day, began offering a third dose of the vaccine on Thursday to people who received the second dose more than six months ago.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called on his compatriots to listen to experts, not rumors of the virus and vaccines. Putin said he did not support the idea of mandatory vaccination against Covid-19, but called on the population to be vaccinated.
The government has rejected the idea of introducing a quarantine regime at the national level, but has acknowledged that it will not be able to meet the target of vaccinating 60% of the population by August.
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