"People have no faith in the state!": Experts wonder why Russians do not get vaccinated

Why are Russians not vaccinated? - social networks are perplexed, and are trying in every way to answer this question. It is no secret that vaccination has failed in Moscow and in Russia as a whole. It is not for nothing that Mayor Sobyanin and former President and now Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Medvedev admitted this fact. Moreover, the latter did not even rule out the possibility of introducing compulsory vaccination, and Sobyanin noted that even in the capital, only 10% of the population was vaccinated, and that at such a rate vaccination will take 7 years!

And this despite the fact that in the Russian regions the coronavirus vaccine is now more affordable than in most European countries, and in Moscow you can get an injection right in GUM on Red Square, not to mention shopping centers. According to official data, more than 200 thousand people have died from the coronavirus in Russia, but in terms of the percentage of people vaccinated from the total population, Russia is not even among the top ten countries in the world.

Many blame anti-vaccines and the failed vaccination campaign for this. It is no secret that posts with conspiracy theories about the origin of the coronavirus and the dangers of the vaccine from it are popular in many social networks and messengers. At the same time, the PR campaign did not produce the desired effect. If the work on the image of vaccination had been systematic even before the pandemic, now the new vaccine would lie on well-fertilized soil. It is necessary to work constantly and efficiently. And now the government may come to an even more unpopular decision - compulsory vaccination. But she will not be able to decide on this before the end of the elections to the State Duma, otherwise it will deal a serious rating blow to the party in power, which is already unpopular among Russians, analysts are sure.

Kommersant observer Dmitry Drize is relying on Putin here:

“…A political decision is required - you need to literally drive the Russian people to get vaccinated. Because in an amicable way, he does not understand. Moreover, the topic of compulsory vaccinations - and this sounds very original - is considered almost as paramount from the point of view of protecting human rights. It is in this context that the so-called patriotic and other resources write about this.

Although we all give ourselves vaccinations from childhood - and nothing, no one has yet grown tails. That is, in theory, this is not a story where you need to fight the authorities.

It is clear, the word is for the president - there is no other way. Our entire social structure is tied exclusively to the first person. However, the highest authorities are unlikely to decide on tough measures - the issue will traditionally be lowered to the regions. And they will also not risk it, because if something happened, they will be answered.

Honestly, there is no way out of this situation. The vaccine crisis is evident - you can't say otherwise..."

Social psychologist Alexey Roshchin also believes that the medical split in society is turning into a political one before our very eyes:

“According to polls, up to two-thirds (!) Of the respondents say that they are not going to do this at all - neither in the near nor in the distant future. It can be noted that Russia has once again clearly divided into "advanced Westernizers" and "deep people", and even the "Westerners" managed to share it once again - on those who earnestly and in the front ranks for the unjustified need for "injections" he himself demands the same from others - and "educated dissidents" who are not ashamed to admit that yes, we are for the West, democracy and progress, but all the global covid frenzy of the last year is too much, we have had enough of all this, including your vaccines. In the latter case, the split over a seemingly purely medical problem is increasingly beginning to resemble a political one.

As for the "deep people" - they, as usual, are silent... but they also do not go for vaccinations.

As a result, we unexpectedly see a picture that is already familiar ... in elections to various authorities: 3-5% of supporters of "democratic Western values" stand out (that is, in the sum of Ksenia Sobchak, Yabloko, the Parnas party and some Boris Titov), to them add the "hidden" potential of Navalny's supporters (whom the official elections "do not see") - another 5 percent; in total, we get about 10% - just about the number of fully vaccinated Muscovites, to whom Sobyanin reported.

At the same time, the situation throughout Russia is not better, but even worse. It is sad for the authorities to admit this, but the greatest "conscientiousness" in relation to vaccination is shown precisely by its systemic and non-systemic opponents from the camp of the democratic opposition. Which, in general, can be explained by quite practical considerations: Russian democrats would very much like to visit Europe and the United States as often as possible, and, as you know, soon they will simply not be allowed to go there without vaccinations. In Russia, as you know, about 75% of the population do not have and have never had passports - and this figure also in some strange way correlates with the number of Russians who do not want to be vaccinated.

(…) I must say that loyal to the modern West, Russian “Westerners” are extremely infuriated by this “incomprehensible” apathy of their compatriots - this can be seen from their increasingly hot and intolerant statements in social networks and in the press. It is in this environment that calls for the violent, compulsory vaccination of the recalcitrant majority are most often heard - which unexpectedly fully corresponds with the position of the authorities.

But, of course, the most interesting question is why, after all, the population of the Russian Federation is so reluctant to get vaccinated, and even "advanced" Muscovites do not set an example here? More often than not, Democratic observers point to "insufficient education" and "mistrust of the authorities." In fact, both explanations - both about the darkness of the people, and about their allegedly bestial distrust of the authorities, forcing them to reject everything they offer (even if it is a wonderful panacea for a terrible, terrible disease) - are clearly unconvincing: the patient, languishing in suffering and feeling the approach of death with a scythe will hardly reject a panacea - especially if it is imposed on him literally from all irons.

The simplest and yet most comprehensive explanation for the refusal of the majority of vaccinations is that people are simply not afraid. They are simply not scared enough. And most importantly: since the campaign of intimidation by the “scary, scary covid” has been going on non-stop on all channels for more than a year, it is obvious that it will not be possible to significantly increase the level of fear in society. Simple - how ?! What else to throw in, what other horror stories? “Light to dust” - there were, “queues from ambulances” - there were. The only thing that the masses were more or less worthy of was to wear masks; to force any significant percentage to put on gloves as well - it was no longer possible.

It still seems to me that this is not fatalism, but harsh Russian realism. In the list of real threats to his life and well-being, our man considered covid ... and found its place low. Not particularly significant. The main reason is that there is no time to be distracted: you have to defend yourself every day from much more obvious and urgent threats to yourself and your family...

To change this, advertising and campaigning will no longer help - the very structure of society will have to be changed: to make it more coherent, solidary and interdependent. What, as we understand, is in no way included in the plans of the Russian authorities - society is quite happy with the authorities in its current atomized form.

Economist Alexey Mineyev sees completely different reasons that influenced this attitude of people towards vaccination:

“In general, the state itself has created the situation with the refusal of the majority of the population. But they cannot admit this, and the people will be to blame.

And it all started with the lack of normal and comprehensive information about vaccines. This is especially true for Sputnik V.

Plus, a lot of people turned around when they were given to sign a "paper", where all responsibility is removed from the manufacturer, plus the attitude when the vaccinated was bad and no help was provided. This alone is enough. When you see that they treat you, excuse the experimental pig, without respect at least.

Then officials and specifically such figures as Sobyanin, Rakova in Moscow, had a hand in it, there are also enough of them in the regions.

Plus a real falsification of vaccinations by the country's leadership.

There is no faith.

And it turns out that such moments as corruption already have a negative attitude. Why is there the same Sputnik everywhere. Yes, in words there are other vaccines, but in fact they are not. At least for ordinary people. Understanding comes when information pops up about a certain lady related. The understanding comes that there is a lot of money.

Unfortunately, the state no longer has faith, does not care about people, only about officials.

Everything that is done is to the detriment of the population. It is impossible to convince. Plus, the latest verbal outpouring of Medvedev and the same Rakova, convince people of the correctness of the opinion. There is no authority who has trust and who will be listened to.

I know many who are constantly vaccinated with the whole family. But they don't come close to Sputnik. Everyone is afraid of the consequences in a long period, complete uncertainty. Yes, and everyone notes the loss of the drugs of the Soviet period, which were treated by covids, just before this world frenzy. The conclusions are not very good".

However, the optimists are confident that they will still recover, and citizens will run to get vaccinated. Here's what Nezygar channel analysts think about this:

“A quantitative analysis of social networks shows the increasing dynamics of discussion of the likelihood of a third wave of covid-19 and an increase in the number of cases in the country's megacities. Analysts drew attention to the return of last year's tone of discussions and the focus of public attention on the dangerous consequences of covid-19, as well as the increased attention of regional communities to the discussion of the work of covid hospitals.

The analysis of opinion polls and focus groups shows that there is a growing awareness in society of the long-term nature of the pandemic and understanding of the high probability of new waves in connection with the emergence of new strains of covid and seasonal factors.

Experts say that the emerging, rather alarming, background will affect the adjustment of the "sociology of mistrust" and will lead to an increase in the number of people wishing to get the vaccine. The motivation for those who do not want to get vaccinated is based on the common belief that Covid-19 will pass by, but the long-term nature of the pandemic leads to the degradation of this opinion established in Russian society.

At the same time, social psychologists note that studies in the segment of the vaccinated indicate a widespread feeling of relief and release of social tension after vaccination..."