Putin Calls Vaccination Matter Of Personal Choice, Calls For More Awareness

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th July, 2020) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the decision to get vaccinated against influenza must be voluntary, adding that it makes the importance of raising public awareness on the matter all the more important.

"To take or not to take a flu vaccine is undoubtedly a matter of personal choice, but it is also a colossal responsibility of each person for their health and the health of their close ones," Putin said at a government meeting focused on the epidemiological environment in Russia.

The Russian president particularly distinguished between the responsibility of parents for the health of their children.

"The principle of voluntariness must be strictly observed, of course. At the same time, all the more important becomes the competent, intelligible and appealing awareness raising," Putin added.

The president said such campaigns must be a common goal for all of Russia's power levels.

Russian health authorities have previously sounded an alarm about the risks associated with newly emerging strains of influenza against which citizens have not yet been vaccinated.