Putin fights to sell Russia’s vaccine in New Rift With West

Photographer: Andrey Rudakov / Bloomberg

Russia accuses the West of comparing its achievements in the global race to defeat Covid-19 because attempts to win key markets for its Sputnik V vaccine are in line with the demands of regulators.

“We understand the game,” said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which supports the development of Sputnik V and negotiates its international implementation, in an interview. “It is a combination of misunderstanding, strong prejudice and very strong attempts to undermine the Russian vaccine.”

Like neighboring China, which is struggling to reassure nations testing its vaccinations, and Russia’s quest to turn what he calls a scientific triumph into geopolitical dividends has met with unexpected headwinds.

President Vladimir Putin has been pushing the vaccine in calls with other world leaders since he considered Russia’s approval of Sputnik V in August as the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine. But many countries’ regulators were unwilling to give Sputnik V a speedy approval – even though they welcomed US and European vaccines that first completed extensive trials.

The competition for access echoes the space race of the Cold War caused by the Soviet Union’s launch in 1957 of the world’s first satellite, Sputnik, for which Russia’s vaccine was named. While Moscow was in space for the first time, it was overtaken by the US, which 12 years later landed a man on the moon.

Russian officials blame Sputnik’s problems as prejudice. The Foreign Ministry recently described the vaccine race as the latest phase in a long-running war on Russia.

Regulators who have asked for more information say they are only trying to ensure that Sputnik V, which Russia approved weeks before phase 3 studies to demonstrate its safety and effectiveness, is as good as supporters say.

The recording was slow. Only on December 21 did neighboring Belarus become the first country outside Russia to approve Sputnik V, and Argentina followed two days later. Argentina began vaccinations on Tuesday with about 300,000 people initially to receive the Russian shot, and Belarus began its program the same day.

But India, Brazil and other major markets are not expected to sign off until next year after more trials.

“Russia is using its vaccination program for soft power diplomacy,” said John Moore, a vaccine researcher at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. ‘It’s an international race, there’s nationalism at stake. But it all depends on the vaccines being effective and safe. ”

The Russian vaccine received a boost earlier in December when AstraZeneca PLC agreed to test a combination of his vaccination with one of the two shots from which Sputnik V. Putin participates, participated in the video conference in which the signing of the agreement was announced live on national television.

The 68-year-old leader nevertheless said on December 17 that he was waiting to get the vaccine until it was cleared for people his age.

Putin’s comments put Argentine officials, who were planning to launch their campaign against the elderly, to the test. His spokesman indicated this week that the president is now ready to be vaccinated after research expanded the age group for safe use of Sputnik V.

Critics say Russia’s decision to approve the vaccine so quickly, before the developers published scientific data, undermined confidence after only limited trials. Western officials, including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, described the move as premature and publicly questioned Sputnik’s safety.

Russian officials condemn the attacks as unfair competition, even though polls show that many Russian citizens are skeptical about the safety of available vaccinations.

The Russian middle gains access to some markets. Guinea became the first African nation to start dispensing of Sputnik V this week, and Bolivian President Luis Arce signing a Wednesday contracts to buy 5.2 million doses, with an initial 6,000 expected to arrive in January.

Serbia the first group received 2,400 Sputnik V shots and will start using them within days, pending approval by the country’s drug regulator, Deputy Health Minister Mirsad Djerlek said on Wednesday.

While Dmitriev was raised in an interview with India TV in September, his hopes of an immediate warm reception from regulators in other countries did not materialize.

‘Absolutely confident’

“We are confident that as early as November it will receive emergency clearance in a number of markets around the world,” he said, arguing that Sputnik is ‘better, much safer’ than Western vaccines using different technologies.