Rospotrebnadzor and the Ministry of Health report a decline in the incidence of COVID-19 in the leading regions in terms of vaccination. Statistics do not confirm

Channel One on the Morning News informs:

“In Russia, in those regions where more than 60% of the population have already been vaccinated from COVID, the incidence rate is decreasing at a good pace. This is noted in Rospotrebnadzor. “

Three days before that, TASS informed on the statement of the Minister of Health of Russia:

“Isolated cases of covid disease are recorded in some regions of the Russian Federation, which are leading in terms of the number of vaccinated. This was announced on Tuesday by the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Mikhail Murashko.

He noted that the pace of vaccination is gaining momentum in Russia. According to the minister, in some regions leading in terms of the number of vaccinated citizens, we are talking about isolated cases of the disease. “

What is surprising in these statements is the absence of any specifics: neither the leading regions for vaccination, nor the incidence rate in them are named. Apparently the most recent vaccination progress statistics published back on August 20 RBC.

The leader at that time was the Belgorod region, where at least one dose of vaccine was received by 44.5% of residents.

Morbidity statistics for the regions of Russia are much more accessible: it is renews Google. This is what the situation looks like in that very Belgorod region:

The decline, which Rospotrebnadzor says, is not visible. The number of new cases of the disease in July increased and has remained approximately at the same level since the end of July.

One of the outsiders in the August report of RBC is the Vladimir region. But just there, after the July peak in incidence, there has been a decline, although the level is still above last year’s December peak.

Among the other August leaders in the Moscow region, a sharp decrease in the number of new cases can be seen, in Moscow and the Tula region – less pronounced, in Mordovia – none.

In Chukotka, there are too few cases of the disease for any statistics – these are probably the very “isolated cases” about which Murashko speaks. However, it is not clear what explains this – the successful course of vaccination or the geographical remoteness of the region and the low population density.

The picture of the leading regions is further confused by the statement made on September 1 by the speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko. Regional news agency of the Penza region informs:

“According to Valentina Matvienko, the Penza region is among the leading regions in terms of vaccination rates, although a lag was observed at the beginning of the vaccination campaign.

The speaker also expressed confidence that collective immunity will soon be formed in Russia, and the covid will finally retreat.

As of the last days of August, more than 345 thousand residents of the Penza region received the first component. More than 302 thousand people have completed vaccination against coronavirus. “

The population of the Penza region, according to the March estimate of Rosstat, is 1,290,898 people; thus, 26.7% of residents received at least one dose of vaccine. This is less than the average for Russia (30.6%). A decrease in the number of new cases in the Penza region is not visible.

One way or another, the available statistics do not confirm the optimistic, but lacking in specifics, statements by Rospotrebnadzor and the Minister of Health.

In mid-August, news agencies circulated a statement by Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford vaccine development team (aka AstraZeneca), who considers the achievement of collective immunity to COVID-19 is impossible, since the mutated delta strain infects those already vaccinated. In his opinion, the vaccine can provide protection only against a severe, life-threatening course of the disease, but not against the infection itself.