As virus cases rise, so do pleas for Russians to get vaccine

By YAROSLAV GUNIN
Associated Press

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia (AP) — In Russia’s fifth-largest city, Nizhny Novgorod, seriously ill coronavirus patients at an infectious disease hospital lie in crowded wards with little space between beds. Dr. Natalia Soloshenko, who is battered by the onslaught of infections, says her intensive care unit is full of patients, all unvaccinated. A woman who lost her 83-year-old grandmother to COVID-19 begged everyone to put aside their hesitancy to get vaccinated, saying the disease is “dreadful and dangerous.” Russia’s low vaccination rate is of increasing concern as it sees a sharp rise in cases, setting records for infections and deaths nearly every day this month.