Russian President Vladimir Putin was given a coronavirus shot Tuesday with an unspecified Russian-made vaccine, as intrigue surrounds the country's vaccination strategy, Reuters reported Wednesday.
No video or photos of the immunization process were immediately released. Earlier, the Kremlin said Putin's inoculation would not be a public event, which is unusual for a Russian leader who frequently poses for the cameras.
"We're deliberately not saying which shot the president will be given, noting that all three Russian-made vaccines are absolutely reliable and effective," Reuters quoted Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
There are three Russian vaccines, Sputnik V, CoviVac and EpiVacCorona, with the latter two only recently granted emergency use approval.
When asked why Putin is not planning to make public his immunization process, Peskov said the President "has never been a supporter of it, he doesn't like it."
Peskov would not say whether the Russian leader would go to a vaccination center or the shot would be brought to him in his residence or office, saying only that it will be done "in a way that would the least affect" Putin's work schedule.
Only 6.3 million people, or 4.3% of Russia's 146 million people have been given at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Russia lags behind a number of other nations in terms of the number of population being immunized against the disease.
On Monday, Putin lauded multimillion dollar sales of the country's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine but its own distribution appears sluggish.
There have been reports that Russia's own output capacity is low and Putin appeared to agree.
Based on data by Russia's Rosstat Statistics Agency, more than 200,000 Russians died from the virus through January, giving the country the third highest fatality figure in the world next to the U.S. and Brazil.
