Day: December 20, 2021

“We do not have mandatory vaccination. Therefore, a fine for refusing vaccination cannot be supported,” he explained. On the eve of the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova said that the authorities are studying the experience of other countries on the introduction of fines for refusing to vaccinate: “ let’s see how effective it is, how applicable.” Earlier, Austria announced the consideration of such a possibility. They have developed a bill according to which, in case of refusal of vaccination, a citizen will be summoned to the district administrative body. If he refuses, he will be called again, and if he does not appear again, he will face a fine of €3.6 thousand or imprisonment for four weeks. With the following refusals, the amount of the fine will increase to € 7.2 thousand. While the initiative is being discussed and not legally fixed. If the law is passed, it may come

As it turned out, omicron replicates in organoids and cell lines of Calu-3 lungs less efficiently than the delta strain and the D614G mutation found in China. The weaker infectivity of omicron compared to these two strains may be explained by the relatively lower cleavage of S-protein compared to the delta strain, scientists believe. At the same time, the same penetration efficiency was observed in the H1299 lung epithelial cells. “Observations show that omicron has acquired properties that allow it to evade immunity, while the properties associated with replication and pathogenicity have weakened,” the study says. Despite these data, omicron is “a serious problem for the public health system” because of the speed of its spread, said the head of the study, Professor Ravi Gupta. A new variant of the coronavirus was detected in southern Africa in early November, since then cases of infection have been recorded in 89 countries

“Some unpublished studies tell us that stopping a new virus requires 10-40 times more antibodies than those that are sufficient to neutralize the original strain,” he explained. At the same time, the specialist added that the “omicron” strain can bypass both antibodies obtained after two vaccinations and those that appeared after recovery. According to him, the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccination course can be discussed only after the third dose of vaccination. However, the specialist noted one nuance. “We should not think that the need to do a second injection is proof of the failure of these drugs against COVID,” said the virologist. According to Palu, scientists cannot yet say for sure how much more painful the new strain is compared to delta. “The experience of South Africa, which would seem to indicate this, does not work here. The population of South Africa is younger than the European one, the

Regions are leaders in the number of new cases: Moscow – 2630 (2,005,710 since the beginning of the pandemic), Saint Petersburg – 1958 (831 206), Moscow Region – 1935 (626,351), Krasnoyarsk Territory — 642 (166 863), Perm Krai — 619 (154,246). Last week, the level of collective immunity to coronavirus in Russia exceeded 58%. The authorities admit that due to the spread of the omicron strain, the terms of revaccination and the validity of certificates may be adjusted. At least 25 Russians were infected with Omicron. On December 16, the State Duma adopted in the first reading a government bill on the introduction of QR codes on vaccination, the presence of antibodies or a medical device for visiting public places.