"Vaccine tourism" is growing in Russia

Audio 01:22

The Goum anti-Covid vaccination center in Moscow, March 10, 2021 © Daniel Vallot / RFI

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4 min

The process for possible EU approval of the Sputnik V vaccine is underway, but it is taking time.

Too much time in the eyes of some in Europe, who without delay prefer to go to Russia directly to be vaccinated.

This "vaccine tourism" still in its infancy for the time being mainly concerns German nationals.

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With our correspondent in Moscow,

Daniel Vallot

He is a tourist of a rather peculiar kind that we meet in the lobby of his hotel, right in the center of Moscow.

Uwe Kaim did not come to the Russian capital to visit the Kremlin or to survey Red Square. 

“

I am 48 years old and I am in good health.

In

Germany

with this profile, I had no chance of being vaccinated for quite a while

, he says.

At first I thought of Serbia, but the Serbs canceled all vaccinations for foreigners.

In my opinion, Sputnik V is a very good vaccine.

So yeah, I'm glad I did. 

" 

It is a Norwegian travel agency that has embarked on this vaccine tourism market taking advantage of the scarcity of the vaccine in Europe and the reopening of borders between Russia and certain countries such as Germany. 

" 

Our cheapest offer is 399 euros,"

explains Albert Siegl, program manager at the World Visitor agency.

We only organize the two injections.

For 2,000 euros, everything is included: the two return flights and the hotel.

This is our most popular offer.

For 3,000 euros, you can stay in Russia between the two vaccinations.

And we even have luxury offers with Trans-Siberian travel, starting at 8,000 euros. 

"

To date, around 100 tourists have been vaccinated through this.

The travel agency claims to have a thousand reservations for the coming weeks.

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See also: Covid-19: vaccination tourism in fashion between Mexico and the United States

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  • Russia

  • Vaccines

  • Coronavirus

  • Health and medicine

  • Tourism