When vaccination against coronavirus began, drugs for employees of Russian diplomatic missions in other countries were often delivered by plane to the head of the Foreign Ministry, the ministry said. Now the vaccinations were made by employees of 82 foreign institutions
Sergey Lavrov
When the coronavirus vaccination campaign started in Russia, vaccines for employees of diplomatic missions abroad were delivered on the plane of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. This was reported to RBC by the head of the Department of Medical and Wellness support in the Department of Affairs (Department) Foreign Ministry Alina Kosachenko.
“Vaccination began, and often the minister carried the vaccine on his board, and the deputy Prime Minister carried the vaccine, because there are countries where planes simply did not fly then,” Kosachenko said, noting that as a result, most of the Foreign Ministry employees were vaccinated.
According to her, employees of 82 foreign institutions of the ministry were vaccinated against coronavirus. “About 80% of our employees are already vaccinated, all this often in conditions of closed skies. In Europe, Africa, Asia, America, despite the closed sky. Many of our doctors have received state orders for a reason, ” said the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“It’s a lot of work. Now our task is to complete the vaccination, to prevent the virus from being imported by new employees of foreign diplomatic missions, ” she added.
According to Kosachenko, it was especially difficult at the beginning of the pandemic, when not only there were no vaccines, but also there were not enough means of protection. “I remember when we sent masks to our representative office in Shanghai, Beijing, where the box said Made in China. In Italy, about the same was delivered. And doctors have always been at the forefront. Often this is the only doctor at the embassy, ” she said.
As the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, reported in February, vaccination of employees of Russian diplomatic missions abroad and their family members is carried out on the basis of the principle of voluntariness, the staff can choose an alternative vaccination. Diplomats also take into account the possibility of delivering a Russian vaccine to a particular country or using local drugs, she noted.
The Foreign Ministry also said that most foreign countries are meeting Russia halfway in the matter of vaccinating employees of Russian foreign institutions. “We are in cooperation with the ministries of foreign Affairs along the lines of our embassies, in most cases they meet us halfway, realizing that everyone, in general, is in the same boat,” Zakharova said.
In the winter, the ministry invited all foreign employees of diplomatic missions working in Russia to be vaccinated. The ministry noted that this practice is common in many countries.