Russians cannot get the Russian coronavirus vaccine at embassies abroad. This was stated by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova on the air of the TV channel “Russia 24” on Wednesday, March 3.
“As for Russian citizens who could get vaccinated in Russian embassies, there is no such option,” she said.
Zakharova noted that Russian embassies are not medical centers. To get vaccinated, she said, “you need to have an appropriate base.”
Regarding the vaccination of employees of Russian diplomatic missions abroad, she said that an individual decision is made for each country, depending on a number of factors. For example, from the presence of a registered vaccine on the territory of a particular state, the presence or absence of air traffic.
However, employees of the Russian embassies are vaccinated “on an exclusively voluntary basis.”
“Each employee (of the embassy) makes his own decision. But each ambassador with the center resolves this issue directly. And for each point a decision is made, ”Zakharova noted.
Employees of the Russian Foreign Ministry are being vaccinated with Sputnik V.
On February 19, Zakharova said on the Russia 1 TV channel that Russian diplomatic missions collected information on their countries and transferred it to the center, which “looks at how to organize vaccination work at each point”.
According to her, in Armenia, Russian diplomats could take root together with the military at the Russian military base.
On the same day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent out invitations to take part in the vaccination program with this drug to all foreign embassies located in Russia.
The vaccination proposal is a fulfillment of Moscow’s obligations under international treaties, including the convention on diplomatic relations of April 18, 1961.
The Sputnik V vaccine has proven to be safe, according to a scientific article by Gamaleya Institute scientists published in the leading medical journal The Lancet on February 2. Its effectiveness is estimated at 91.6%, for severe cases of COVID-19 – 100%. This is the first coronavirus vaccine in Russia and in the world.