The Ministry of Health clarified the words of the head of the Ministry Mikhail Murashko. He said on December 25 that cases of COVID-19 caused by omicron were registered in Russia. “We are monitoring, in total we see that there are imported cases from abroad, they are quickly localized, but there are cases of infection with the omicron strain on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the minister said during a working trip to Rostov-on-Don.
Murashko did not say how many people with omicron were registered and what their condition was. The head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, reported on December 21 that omicron was detected in 41 people in Russia. All patients are in hospitals, the condition of all patients is stable, most already have immunity to coronavirus after vaccination or previously transferred COVID-19, Popova noted.
To prevent the uncontrolled spread of Omicron, a number of countries, including Russia, have imposed restrictions on international flights and other security measures. However, the suspension of flights between the countries has already lost its meaning, because the strain has spread around the world anyway, Rospotrebnadzor and the Ministry of Health of South Africa noted in a joint statement on December 22.
According to official data of the authorities, collective immunity to coronavirus in Russia exceeded 60% this week. Full course of vaccination against COVID-19 in More than 73 million people have been vaccinated in Russia, about 78 million people have been vaccinated with the first component (we are talking about both the first vaccinations and revaccination).