vladimir putin may 6
Russia's President Vladimir Putin on May 6, 2020.
Alexei DruzhininTASS via Getty
  • Putin received a vaccine behind closed doors on Tuesday, away from cameras, officials said.
  • It was one of the three Russian vaccines, per the Kremlin, but they did not say which.
  • Putin usually loves photo-ops, and is out of step with other world leaders who got vaccinated in public.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin received a vaccine on Tuesday, but has not disclosed which one.

"Putin was vaccinated against the coronavirus. [He] feels good. Tomorrow he has a full working day," Dmitry Peskov, Putin's top spokesman, told CNN.

The vaccination would not be made a public event because Putin "doesn't like" the idea of being on camera for it, Peskov said.

He refused to say which vaccine Putin got, but said it was one of the three available in Russia: Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, and CoviVac.

"We are deliberately not saying which shot the president will get, noting that all three Russian [-made] vaccines are absolutely reliable and effective," Peskov said, according to Reuters.

When asked how anyone would know that Putin had really been vaccinated, the Peskov responded "You will have to take our word for it."

Many noted that deciding to leave the cameras behind was out-of-character for Putin, who is famous for posed photo-ops:

It is also a change from other world leaders who chose to get their shots publicly to encourage trust in vaccination.

President Joe Biden was injected publicly during his transition to the presidency. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson took his jab in public last week.

Joe Biden vaccine
Joe Biden, at the time president-elect, received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on December 21, 2020.
Carolyn Kaster/AP

Putin's preference for private vaccination is shared by former President Donald Trump, who was vaccinated in January while still in office, but did not make that fact public. News outlets first reported it had happened on March 1.

Sputnik V has been approved in Russia for more then ten months, and Putin, 68, has been eligible for it since December, The New York Times reported.

Some have questioned why Putin had not received a vaccine until Tuesday, long after he told the media that one of his daughters had taken it.

Sputnik V was found to be 91.6% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 in an analysis published in February. EpiVacCorona and CoviVac were approved in Russia in October 2020 and February 2021, respectively, but neither have gone through the phase 3 trials, trials which confirm vaccine safety and efficacy.

5.9 million Russians have received a COVID-19 vaccine at home, according to Our World in Data, out of a population of over 145 million.

Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said that the demand abroad for Sputnik V exceeded supply so promotion was not needed, the Times reported.

The shot is now approved in 56 countries, according to the Sputnik V spokespeople. But it is not approved in the EU, the UK or the US.

Russia plans to vaccinate 1 in 10 people in the world with Sputnik V this year, Insider's Kate Duffy reported on March 12.

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