Page 73 - bne_July 2021_20210602

bne July 2021
Opinion 73
Apart from Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, the most visible person agitating for Russians to get injected is the famous actor Vladimir Mashkov, whose poster can be seen on bus-stops and huge billboards on highways arounds the city. Mashkov, who appeared in Mission Impossible 4: tells Muscovites: “I have taken the vaccine for coronavirus. And you ?”
The Kremlin has been actively involved in disseminating conspiracy theories for years. Conspiracy theories are used to obfuscate the truth or to provide cover for the Kremlin’s actions – be it the poisoning of opposition politician Alexey Navalny, the landing of “little green men” in Crimea or the downing of the MH17 airliner over Ukraine.
But the mad-capped conspiracy theories are typically superficial excuses for dodging the injection. When you dig deeper with Russian people, it’s down to deep institutional distrust of the authorities after decades of having to consume barefaced lies and propaganda.
Ultimately, some form of compulsion is inevitable if Russia has any hope of shaking off the pandemic.
On May 26, President Vladimir Putin publicly ruled out mandatory vaccination as “impractical and impossible”, but it looks like the way is being paved for a difficult decision.
His predecessor, Dmitry Medvedev, recently expressed support for mandatory vaccines, while the far-eastern Sakha Republic in Yakutia became the first Russian region on May 25 to make vaccinations compulsory, only to reverse the order within days.
Raising Russia’s pension age was similarly a controversial issue and Putin also pledged never to do it – until he did in October 2018 as his government sought ways to relieve pressure on the federal budget.
Rumours abound now among policymakers that the Duma will vote on making vaccination compulsory or by making it an obligation for domestic and international travel.
The Kremlin needs to adopt a carrot-and-stick approach. Trying to entice people to take a vaccine by offering ice cream, free circus tickets or a miserly gratuity of 1,000 rubles ($14) hasn’t worked. The authorities may need to threaten public and private sector employees with suspension and their employers with fines for non-enforcement. Pensioners without the jab can be blocked from accessing public transport – like they were during last year’s lockdown.
A recent study of 1,400 people by RANEPA suggested many Russians are indeed ready to be vaccinated if it does become a pre-requisite for travel abroad and if pressure were to be exerted by their employer.
Russians will have overcome their vaccine phobia if they want to travel overseas and help the global fight to supress the pandemic. A spoonful of sugar, as well a forceful bedside manner, may make the medicine go down.
Jason Corcoran is a journalist and Russia macroeconomics strategist who has lived and worked in Moscow for 15 years.
People dancing in Moscow, Gorky park. Photo: Shutterstock.
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