Melikov's threats draw attention to forced trend of vaccination campaign

Sergey Melikov has resorted to threats of layoffs because of vaccination low rates to create an image of the efficient Dagestani leader, the political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have suggested.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in March, five North-Caucasian regions were in the last ten in terms of the number of vaccinated residents in Russia; and the lowest vaccination rate was in Dagestan.

Dagestan takes the last place among Russian regions of in terms of vaccination rate against coronavirus, Sergey Melikov, the acting head of Dagestan, has stated today and promised to dismiss those heads of municipalities who failed to ensure the epidemiological safety of their population.

The head of Dagestan is taking tough measures by threatening to dismiss those municipality heads, where vaccination rate is poor in order to demonstrate his efforts, Evgeny Minchenko, the head of the consulting firm "Minchenko Consulting", believes. "Melikov is trying; if he has a high credit of trust, this does not mean that he can be wasted in the very first months (of work). Melikov shows with all his appearance that he is doing everything he can," Mr Minchenko has stated.

Despite the authorities' public statements that vaccinations should be done voluntarily, employees of state bodies face coercion to vaccination, Ziyautdin Uvaisov, the head of the NGO "Patient's Monitor", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The more authorities force people to vaccinate, the more anti-vaccination ideas are spreading, Mr Uvaisov believes. "As a result, we have the opposite effect. People start thinking that if they are forced, then this is not done in their interests, but this is necessary for officials," he said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 10, 2021 at 01:34 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.