Russian health officials approved booster shots six months after the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
On Tuesday, there were 20,616 new cases and 652 deaths. This is the highest daily death rate in the pandemic.
Mikhail Murashko, Russia’s health minister, told a Tuesday government meeting that the ministry had updated its vaccination guidelines. It allows coronavirus patients to be vaccinated six to six months after recovery, and for those who have already been immunized six to six months.
Since last Thursday, Russia’s state coronavirus taskforce has reported more than 20,000 new infections per day. This is more than twice the average for early June.
Russia was the first country to deploy a coronavirus vaccination last year. However, only a small fraction of its 146million population has been inoculated. Murashko claims that more than 23 million people, or just over 15%, have received at least one dose.
