The Foreign Ministry told how Lavrov carried the vaccine for diplomatic missions

When the coronavirus vaccination campaign started in RUSSIA, vaccines for 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 recreational support in the Administration (department) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 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 have been vaccinated against coronavirus. “About 80% of our employees have already been vaccinated, all this often in conditions of a closed sky. In Europe, Africa, Asia, America despite the closed sky. Many of our doctors received state orders for a reason, ”said the representative of the Foreign Ministry.

“It's a lot of work. Now our task is to complete the vaccination, to prevent the importation of the virus 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 protective equipment. “We then, I remember, sent masks to our representative office in Shanghai, Beijing, where Made in CHINA was written on the box. Delivered to Italy in much the same way. And doctors have always been at the forefront. Often this is the only DOCTOR at the embassy,” she said.

As Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reported in February, the vaccination of employees of Russian diplomatic missions abroad and their families is based on the principle of voluntariness, staff can choose an alternative vaccination. Diplomats also consider 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 on the issue of vaccinating employees of Russian foreign missions. “We are in interaction with the ministries of foreign affairs through our embassies, in most cases they meet halfway, realizing that, in general, everyone is in the same boat,” Zakharova said.

In winter, the ministry offered all foreign employees of diplomatic missions working in Russia to be vaccinated. The department noted that this practice is common in many countries.