Moscow Orders Mandatory Covid Vaccinations as Hospitals Strain
- City wants over 2 million workers to start process by July 15
- Putin earlier said Russia won’t force people to take vaccine
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Moscow ordered service-sector and municipal workers to get vaccinated amid a spike in Covid-19 hospitalizations, as the Kremlin denied any reversal in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opposition to compulsory inoculation.
The vaccination drive will cover more than 2 million people, Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova said Wednesday, the state-run RIA Novosti news service reported. That’s 60% of workers at consumer-facing businesses and city employees, including health professionals and teachers, who must receive a dose of one of Russia’s domestically-developed vaccines by July 15, according to an order from Moscow’s public-health office published Wednesday.