As Sputnik V launches, number of Russians willing to get a Covid-19 jab has DOUBLED in just a couple of months, poll reveals

A new survey has shown that the number of Russians willing to be vaccinated against coronavirus has almost doubled, in just two months, as the world's largest country rolls out a mass vaccination program.

The amount of people ready to receive a jab “in the near future” has risen to 42 percent, up from the 23 percent suggested by similar polls in September-October. That's according to a survey carried out in November by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), that collected the views of more than 3,000 people across Russia.

The survey has also revealed that 61 percent of Russians are afraid of catching the virus, 51 percent would opt for a Russian-made vaccine if they had a choice, and 42 percent believe that mass vaccination could curb the spread of Covid-19.

Russia rolled out its mass vaccination program at the beginning of December. Last week Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the program would reach all regions of the country before the end of the year. He added that the program would take place “step by step” and be voluntary. 

Sputnik V has become the world's first registered vaccine, and the preliminary results of clinical trials showed that it's more than 90 percent effective.

Russia’s vaccine is proving sought after on the international market – more than 50 countries have applied to purchase more than 1.2 billion doses of the Russian jab.

Last week British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced a trial program to test if its experimental coronavirus vaccine can be combined with Russia's Sputnik V, in an attempt to boost their vaccine's efficacy. 

Russia has the fourth-highest infection rate in the world with the total number of infections at more than 2,680,000.

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