The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, 75-year-old Vladimir Zhirinovsky, felt unwell two weeks ago, at the same time he was diagnosed with COVID-19. As a result, the politician ended up in the hospital, but only the closest circle knew about what was happening. The fact is that Zhirinovsky was vaccinated against the coronavirus many times and publicly campaigned for vaccination. Now the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party is afraid that his disease will play into the hands of opponents of vaccinations, give them extra arguments. Therefore, he tried to hide his infection as long as possible. Having learned about his diagnosis two weeks ago, Zhirinovsky asked the doctors not to disseminate this information, a Kommersant source close to the Ministry of Health said.
First, the politician went into self-isolation and was treated at home. In his party, a version was circulated that Zhirinovsky decided to play it safe against the backdrop of a massive infection with the omicron strain in the State Duma and switched to remote work. The fact that Zhirinovsky himself was among the sick people knew only a limited circle of people: personal guards, assistants and the head of the politician's apparatus.
Later the situation worsened. During the next examination on February 2, doctors discovered that Zhirinovsky was developing pneumonia. He was advised to go to the hospital. At the same time, according to the source of the publication, the politician did not have external “threatening symptoms”, but his recovery was “not as fast as planned.”
Zhirinovsky was hospitalized in the main building of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Administration of the President of Russia in the Moscow district of Krylatskoye. He was allowed to continue working and maintain contact with his subordinates, talking to them through a protective glass partition.
According to the interlocutor, Zhirinovsky in the hospital behaves actively and "does not notice his illness at all." He has three mobile phones, books, working papers.
“From morning to evening, the patient watches the news and issues commands on the phones, barely having time to charge the devices and pass them on to an assistant to send messages to employees,” the source said.
The press service of the Liberal Democratic Party reported on February 10 that Zhirinovsky feels fine, "works with documents and sends orders."
At the same time, the Mash Telegram channel previously reported that Zhirinovsky developed bilateral pneumonia, and when he was hospitalized, the politician was diagnosed with 50-75% lung damage. An Interfax source confirmed that the patient had a “serious” lung injury. An RBC source in the party and interlocutors of URA.RU, close to the LDPR, reported the day before that Zhirinovsky was hooked up to a ventilator. The interlocutor of RBC called the condition of the elderly politician critical.
“No one gives any guarantees. Everything is complicated by comorbidities,” he explained.
The Kommersant source, in turn, admitted that a ventilator had recently been placed in Zhirinovsky's ward. However, according to him, it was done "for insurance." The leader of the LDPR all this time was breathing on his own, and the device was used only in the oxygen mask mode, which helps the patient to quickly cope with the consequences of the disease.
Zhirinovsky is known as an ardent supporter of vaccination against coronavirus. He was one of the first to be vaccinated in Russia in September 2020. Since then, according to the politician, he managed to get vaccinated against the coronavirus eight times. Among other things, Zhirinovsky used a light version of the Russian vaccine, a one-component Sputnik Light and a nasal spray with Sputnik V, and the CoviVac vaccine from the Center. Chumakov.
Zhirinovsky announced the last, eighth vaccination in December last year.
“In a year and a half, I was injected eight times with different vaccines. It turns out that the vaccine is enough for two months in total. Maybe six months is enough. It is recommended to get vaccinated after four months. But I check more often. Maybe a lot of people need to get vaccinated again, but they don't check their antibodies, and I check regularly. And as soon as it starts to decrease, I give another shot,” Zhirinovsky said at the time.
He explained that he uses different vaccines, because he considers it more effective. The politician noted that it is not necessary to be vaccinated against the coronavirus too often, but personally he simply seeks to protect his health. “If antibodies decrease, the body is unarmed and it can get sick again. So I made eight injections and did not get sick, and if I had done four, then perhaps I would have been caught somewhere, ”Zirinovsky emphasized.
The politician said that he endured all vaccinations easily and felt good. “[I] got used to being vaccinated from a young age: against measles, against typhoid, against smallpox, against influenza - which is the best insurance against a dangerous disease,” he explained.
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