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42% of Russians Won’t Get Coronavirus Vaccine Under Any Circumstances – Poll

The latest poll results come as Russian authorities seek to jumpstart their lagging domestic vaccination campaign. Sophia Sandurskaya / Moskva News Agency

Over one-third of Russians refuse to get vaccinated against the coronavirus under any circumstances, the SuperJob.ru job portal said in a survey published Sunday. 

Last week, Greece opened to Russian tourists vaccinated with Russia’s Sputnik V jab, prompting one in five Russians to say they are ready to get vaccinated so they can travel, Superjob said.

According to Superjob, 20% of Russian respondents said they would get vaccinated in order to travel abroad and 18% planned to get vaccinated anyway, while 42% do not want to be vaccinated under any circumstances. Another 20% said they found it difficult to make a decision. 

The latest poll results come as Russian authorities grapple with widely entrenched vaccine skepticism as they seek to jumpstart their domestic vaccination campaign.

While Russia has heavily touted Sputnik V as the world's first approved coronavirus vaccine and it has been authorized for use in over 60 countries worldwide, the jab — along with Russia's two other approved vaccines — have been met with cool reception at home. At its current pace, Russia is on track to vaccinate 70% of its population by February 2023. 

Last week, the independent Levada Center pollster said that more than half of Russians (62%) are still not ready to get vaccinated with Sputnik V.

Superjob conducted the survey among 1,600 people in 406 Russian towns and cities who have not been vaccinated. 

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