Russian Health Official Warns ‘Third Wave of Coronavirus Infections’ Is Emerging

Russian Deputy Health Minister Tatiana Semyonova said Tuesday that a third wave of coronavirus infections is emerging in her country, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin optimistically speaks of achieving nationwide herd immunity by summer.

“Unfortunately, the incidence rate and the progression of the disease allow us to speak of a third wave of coronavirus infections,” Semyonova told the state-run Tass news agency.

“Russia on Tuesday reported 8,277 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, including 1,291 in Moscow. The country also reported 409 deaths, raising the official toll to 98,442,” Reuters noted in the course of relaying her remarks.

Russian Academy of Sciences member Vadim Pokrovsky, who heads the Russian Federal AIDS Research Center, immediately contradicted Semyonova.

“Frankly speaking, I don’t anticipate a third wave at all. The number of those having immunity to COVID [Chinese coronavirus] is growing quite rapidly because many people have already had the disease and thanks to vaccination. So, no serious surge should be expected,” Pokrovsky said in a radio interview Tuesday.

“The number of those inoculated is rapidly increasing and I think very soon, as early as May, we will reach the 60% immunization mark, not far from the 70% level that is believed to be sufficient to stop the epidemic,” he predicted.

Pokrovsky’s analysis is rather more friendly to Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccine than Semyonova’s. According to Putin, 4.3 million Russians have now received double shots of Sputnik-V, against a total population of 145 million. 

Russia’s chief health minister, Mikhail Murashko, said Monday that he saw a “downward trend” in cases and thought it was too early to discuss a “third wave.”