Coronavirus vaccine: Why are so many Russians skeptical of the COVID shot?

Once again, schools, stores, restaurants, sport centers and hair salons in Moscow and the region around the Russian capital have been forced to close. Drugstores and shops that sell food are allowed to remain open, along with theaters and museums, but visitors must show a QR code to prove they’ve been vaccinated or are fully recovered from a COVID infection.

This latest lockdown is due to last until November 7. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced the new measures last week, the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree for a nationwide paid week off work in the first week of November. The moves come as Russia, which has seen a low vaccination rate, is experiencing new highs in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Only a third of population vaccinated

Though Russia launched its vaccination campaign almost a year ago, only a third of the population has received two shots, many of them over six months ago. This is low compared to other industrialized countries. In Germany, the vaccination rate is almost twice as high.

On October 27, authorities registered 36,600 new cases of COVID-19, more than ever. Some 1,000 people are dying every day. Moscow’s mayor recently warned that “historic highs” would be reached in the next few days.

Authorities are hoping to stem the latest wave with the lockdown, but also by introducing compulsory vaccination. However, according to a survey by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), Russians are divided on this issue: 47% of those surveyed were in favor of a mandatory vaccine, while the same proportion was against it. At the same time, the majority (60%) were convinced that mass vaccination was necessary to combat COVID-19 and only 23% thought that vaccines were unnecessary.

According to Denis Volkov, director of the Levada Center, a nongovernmental polling organization, the proportion of Russians opposed to the vaccine had reached 60% by the beginning of the summer, whereas some 30% were prepared to be vaccinated.

The number of those opposed decreased slightly during the summer after a two-week period in which nobody could enter a cafe or restaurant in Moscow without proving that they were vaccinated, recovered or had tested negative for COVID-19. However, when this restriction was lifted, the number of those willing to be vaccinated decreased again and there was a noticeable decline in the daily vaccination rate.

Distrust of the authorities slowing vaccine rollout

The Levada Center survey findings indicate that the population distrusts both the vaccine and the authorities. Volkov told DW that there was a widespread lack of confidence in the country’s power structures, with about 50% of Russians disapproving of the government’s work.

“The number of those willing to be vaccinated is much lower among those who have a negative attitude toward the authorities,” he said, adding that those who distrust the authorities tend to oppose almost all government initiatives, from vaccination campaigns to digital voting to video surveillance. But he also said most of those who were afraid of the vaccine were also worried about contracting COVID-19.

Currently, only about half of the Russian population supports the authorities’ efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Romir research institute. “We are seeing a polarization of society,” its director Andrey Milekhin told DW. He said this was why there were so many online debates about this issue, and why so many people were deliberately spreading misinformation.

‘Impossible to ban everything’

However, Milekhin said the authorities were reacting in the wrong way by imposing bans and restrictions. In March 2020, for example, the State Duma parliament passed a law that criminalized the violation of sanitary and epidemiological regulations in emergency and disaster situations.

“It’s almost impossible to close or ban everything. Measures have to be clearly justified and explained by experts,” he said. Milekhin believes decision-makers should understand the complex nature of society, and they should therefore have individually targeted each segment of the population to convince them to adhere to the rules put in place to fight COVID-19.

According to data collected by the independent website gogov.ru, which tracks vaccinations in Russia, the daily vaccination rate is once again approaching the peak values recorded during the summer. Since mid-October, over 500,000 people have been receiving a shot every day.

Volkov of the Levada Center said the announcement of the new lockdown and the increasing restrictions on unvaccinated people in different regions of Russia had already had an impact on the population’s anti-vaccine stance.

“Our studies have shown that a significant proportion of those who do not want to be vaccinated wait for the moment when they can no longer avoid it,” he said. “However, suitable measures only work if they are consistent and long lasting, which is not the case here.”

Volkov is certain it was the long and hard lockdown in various European countries that contributed to Europeans getting vaccinated in greater numbers than in Russia.

This article has been adapted from the original Russian.