Originally published at: Putin says Kremlin has Covid problem | Boing Boing
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Maybe it’s time to dial back the anti-vax propaganda a bit, Vlad? The shit you disseminate in other countries doesn’t stop at your borders either.
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Oh no, “several dozen” of his security detail are sick! I’m sure he has many more dozens to sacrifice.
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No way he got the Sputnik vaccine. He’s Pfizer or Moderna no doubt.
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sounds like a great way to get out of having to go to Dushanbe.
Dushanbe is pretty nice if you are rich.
Without a doubt, but loyalty sure gets tested when the guards aren’t paid, or are dropping like flies.
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Yeah, definitely agree with this. Plus he probably already boostered himself. The man is not dumb. Evil, perhaps, but not dumb.
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Gosh Putins, how did this befall you?
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He would be far less evil, if he was even a bit more dumb.
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Money isn’t a problem for this kleptocrat and the rank-and-file thugs-for-hire succumbing to COVID aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer when it comes to public health and science.
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It’s surprising he openly admitted there is a problem. But yeah, I agree that he totally got the real deal when it came to his jabs.
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Today I learned what “dogfooding” means. I suspect he got the Pfizer jab and lied about the Sputnik. So, fake dogfood.
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He’ll probably fake an infection, bounce back after a couple of days and attribute it to his strong constitution (and, of course, the Sputnik vaccine he created). Why else would he disclose infections in the Kremlin but for political gain?
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The efficacy data for the Sputnik vaccine are pretty good. And there are solid data now from outside of Russia and the Putinist orbit (lots of doses administered in Argentina and Brazil). My guess is that Putin would have gotten it because it was available so much earlier than any of the others.
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That wasn’t my experience when I lived in Russia. There were some weird Herbalife adherents and homespun remedies (sticking garlic up one’s nose to cure a head cold was one, and 100 grams of vodka for any ailment is a gimmie), but there seemed to be a healthy appreciation of the role vaccination played in public health, as well as actual medical treatment (if you could afford it) and prophylaxis.
Of course, it’s been several years since I lived there, so it could have gone whackadoodle the same way much of the US has.
My point was that bodyguards tend to be more loyal if they get paid well and on time, and aren’t actually placed in mortal danger very often. (And, probably, if there is a good chance to act on their sadistic urges.)
To get ahead of the story? His security detail have families and friends, too, and in my (again, personal) experience, gossip and rumor spreads very easily in the former soviet union, and who you know who is infected with COVID is probably a topic of interest in Russia, too. Plus, every adversarial security service probably knows the members of his security detail by sight, and would notice if a bunch of them were absent for any extended period of time. This would be a way to signal both internally and externally that while there might be a COVID outbreak at the Kremlin, Putin hasn’t been left with the JV squad.
Of course, he might also fake an infection as well, and a full recovery, to show what a strong, virile leader he is, or to show how effective the sputnik vaccine is and the whole world should be buying it. Or a combination of all the above. It’s hard to tell what or why he is releasing this information. Not because he is inscrutable and plays 4th dimensional chess, but because he wants to cling to power, and it is hard to tell which threat to that power he is responding to at any moment. (So, i guess, political gain in one form or another.)
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