<p>President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he expected the Russian-made Sputnik V jab to protect him as he started to self-isolate after coronavirus cases were detected in his inner circle.</p>.<p>Putin said it will be a "natural experiment" as Russia struggles with stubbornly high coronavirus infection rates and a vaccine-sceptic population.</p>.<p>Putin had been due to travel to Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe for a regional summit later this week but in a call with President Emomali Rakhmon said he would not be able to attend in person, the Kremlin said.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/russia-fines-facebook-twitter-over-banned-content-1030281.html" target="_blank">Russia fines Facebook, Twitter over banned content </a></strong></p>.<p>Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin was "absolutely healthy" but will not be attending in-person events.</p>.<p>He did not specify how long the president will be self-isolating for and declined to say who in Putin's entourage had tested positive.</p>.<p>When asked whether Putin had taken a coronavirus test and if it was negative, Peskov replied: "Undoubtedly".</p>.<p>It is unclear whether the president -- who says he has been vaccinated with Russia's homegrown Sputnik V jab -- will still be self-isolating during parliamentary polls scheduled for 17-19 September.</p>.<p>In his first public comments after the announcement, Putin said he "hoped" Sputnik V will protect him from the coronavirus.</p>.<p>"This is a natural experiment, let's see how Sputnik V will work in practise," Putin said, taking part in a government meeting via video link.</p>.<p>He added that one of the people who fell ill was vaccinated and tested positive days after getting a booster jab.</p>.<p>Russian authorities have taken exceptional measures to protect 68-year-old Putin since the start of the pandemic.</p>.<p>Foreign leaders, journalists and officials have all been required to self-isolate in advance of being in contact with Putin and a disinfection tunnel was installed at his residence outside Moscow.</p>.<p>The Russian leader said in late June that he was vaccinated with Sputnik after months of secrecy around the issue, but the Kremlin did not show images of the inoculation.</p>.<p>In recent months, the longtime Russian leader had resumed his work trips and face-to-face meetings, but many of his contacts are still required to spend two weeks in quarantine.</p>.<p>Putin on Monday met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and with Russian athletes returning from the Tokyo Paralympic Games.</p>.<p>Russia is among the countries hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic -- with the fifth-highest number of recorded cases according to an <em>AFP</em> tally -- and has struggled to rein in infections despite easy access to vaccines.</p>.<p>Infections have been falling in recent days after a spike in August, but health officials still reported 17,837 new cases and 781 new deaths on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Authorities have struggled with a vaccine-sceptic population, with independent polls showing that a majority of Russians do not plan to be inoculated.</p>.<p>As of Tuesday, about 39.9 million of Russia's 146 million people had been fully vaccinated, according to the Gogov website, which tallies Covid data from the regions.</p>.<p>Russia has several homegrown vaccines freely available to the public, but does not distribute any Western-made jabs.</p>.<p>Moscow, the epicentre of Russia's outbreak, and a host of regions have introduced mandatory vaccination measures to speed up the inoculation drive, and Putin has repeatedly called on Russians to get vaccinated.</p>.<p>Russian authorities have been accused of vastly downplaying the effects of the pandemic and, after a tight first lockdown in 2020, have refrained from introducing restrictive new measures.</p>.<p>As of Tuesday the country had recorded 7,176,085 cases and 194,249 fatalities, the highest death toll in Europe.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>
<p>President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he expected the Russian-made Sputnik V jab to protect him as he started to self-isolate after coronavirus cases were detected in his inner circle.</p>.<p>Putin said it will be a "natural experiment" as Russia struggles with stubbornly high coronavirus infection rates and a vaccine-sceptic population.</p>.<p>Putin had been due to travel to Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe for a regional summit later this week but in a call with President Emomali Rakhmon said he would not be able to attend in person, the Kremlin said.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/russia-fines-facebook-twitter-over-banned-content-1030281.html" target="_blank">Russia fines Facebook, Twitter over banned content </a></strong></p>.<p>Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin was "absolutely healthy" but will not be attending in-person events.</p>.<p>He did not specify how long the president will be self-isolating for and declined to say who in Putin's entourage had tested positive.</p>.<p>When asked whether Putin had taken a coronavirus test and if it was negative, Peskov replied: "Undoubtedly".</p>.<p>It is unclear whether the president -- who says he has been vaccinated with Russia's homegrown Sputnik V jab -- will still be self-isolating during parliamentary polls scheduled for 17-19 September.</p>.<p>In his first public comments after the announcement, Putin said he "hoped" Sputnik V will protect him from the coronavirus.</p>.<p>"This is a natural experiment, let's see how Sputnik V will work in practise," Putin said, taking part in a government meeting via video link.</p>.<p>He added that one of the people who fell ill was vaccinated and tested positive days after getting a booster jab.</p>.<p>Russian authorities have taken exceptional measures to protect 68-year-old Putin since the start of the pandemic.</p>.<p>Foreign leaders, journalists and officials have all been required to self-isolate in advance of being in contact with Putin and a disinfection tunnel was installed at his residence outside Moscow.</p>.<p>The Russian leader said in late June that he was vaccinated with Sputnik after months of secrecy around the issue, but the Kremlin did not show images of the inoculation.</p>.<p>In recent months, the longtime Russian leader had resumed his work trips and face-to-face meetings, but many of his contacts are still required to spend two weeks in quarantine.</p>.<p>Putin on Monday met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and with Russian athletes returning from the Tokyo Paralympic Games.</p>.<p>Russia is among the countries hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic -- with the fifth-highest number of recorded cases according to an <em>AFP</em> tally -- and has struggled to rein in infections despite easy access to vaccines.</p>.<p>Infections have been falling in recent days after a spike in August, but health officials still reported 17,837 new cases and 781 new deaths on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Authorities have struggled with a vaccine-sceptic population, with independent polls showing that a majority of Russians do not plan to be inoculated.</p>.<p>As of Tuesday, about 39.9 million of Russia's 146 million people had been fully vaccinated, according to the Gogov website, which tallies Covid data from the regions.</p>.<p>Russia has several homegrown vaccines freely available to the public, but does not distribute any Western-made jabs.</p>.<p>Moscow, the epicentre of Russia's outbreak, and a host of regions have introduced mandatory vaccination measures to speed up the inoculation drive, and Putin has repeatedly called on Russians to get vaccinated.</p>.<p>Russian authorities have been accused of vastly downplaying the effects of the pandemic and, after a tight first lockdown in 2020, have refrained from introducing restrictive new measures.</p>.<p>As of Tuesday the country had recorded 7,176,085 cases and 194,249 fatalities, the highest death toll in Europe.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>