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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- At the start of June, St. Petersburg’s local administration stopped publishing information about how many COVID-19 patients had been hospitalized in the Russian city.... Throughout the pandemic, Russian authorities have been accused of massaging statistics to hide the real scale of the country’s COVID-19 impact. The Kremlin has repeatedly suggested that although it has been difficult, Russia has fared better than most other countries, even as it has neglected to impose tough lockdown measures.... But publicly available mortality statistics, as well as other data, show an ever growing, yawning gap between Russia’s official COVID-19 figures and...

Imagine sitting at your desk finishing the final words of your essay, believing that this will be the most stressful moment in your college career. However, you find that the biggest stressor is now seeing your university is requiring COVID-19 vaccines, and yours does not count. As countries push to get people vaccinated, international students are getting a raw deal. Both the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V, and the Indian vaccine, Covaxin, have not been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is one of the main reasons universities like Columbia University are requesting students get revaccinated with WHO approved...

An extended thread topic. Discussion of the different Covid vaccines. Comparisons. Contrasts. Pros. Cons. Firsthand experiences, scientific insights, etc... ** The current vaccines available on the market are: 1) Pfizer/BioNTech (mRNA) 2 doses 2) Moderna (mRNA) 2 doses 3) Johnson & Johnson aka Janssen (DNA adenovirus vector) 1 dose (And for those with any experience or expertise regarding some of the additional ones avail overseas, feel free to contribute as well! Note: none of the below employ mRNA technology.) - AstraZeneca (British/Swede collab) - SinoVac (China-developed) - Sputnik V (Russia-developed)

Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez, who received two doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine earlier this year, has tested positive for Covid-19, his doctor confirmed. Fernandez had earlier said that he was self-isolating after receiving a positive result from an antibody test. A polymerase chain reaction test, which is more definitive, had confirmed the result, according to a statement signed by Federico Saavedra, Fernandez’s long-time personal doctor and now a member of his medical staff. Fernandez is “stable, asymptomatic and with indicators within normal ranges, Saavedra said. The president had taken a test after running a fever and suffering a headache...

Russia's health minister is preparing a mass vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus for October, local news agencies reported on Saturday, after a vaccine completed clinical trials. Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the Gamaleya Institute, a state research facility in Moscow, had completed clinical trials of the vaccine and paperwork is being prepared to register it, Interfax news agency reported. He said doctors and teachers would be the first to be vaccinated. "We plan wider vaccinations for October," Murashko was quoted as saying.