Putin’s unanimous vaccine is now a favorite in the fight against pandemics

Photographer: Jorge Bernal / AFP / Getty Images

President Vladimir Putin’s announcement in August that Russia the world’s first vaccine for Covid-19 cleared for use before it even completed safety trials has sparked worldwide skepticism. Now he could pick up diplomatic dividends as Russia is likely to be its biggest scientific breakthrough since the Soviet era.

Countries stand ready to get Sputnik V supplies after peer-reviewed results published in The Lancet medical journal this week showed that the Russian vaccine protects the deadly virus, as well as American and European shots, and much more effectively than Chinese competitors.

At least 19 countries have approved the vaccine for use, including the member state of the European Union Hungary, while key markets such as Brazil and India approve it. Russia is now establishing its valued EU market while the bloc struggles with its vaccination program amid supply shortages.

In the global battle to defeat a pandemic that claimed 2.3 million lives in just over a year, the race to get vaccines geopolitically important as governments try to stem the enormous social and economic damage caused by barriers set up to spread the virus. This gives Russia an edge as one of a handful of countries where scientists have provided an effective defense.

Its decision to name Sputnik V after the first satellite in the world, the launch of which in 1957 gave the Soviet Union a magnificent triumph against the USA to start the space race, only underscores the importance that Moscow attached to the achievement. it, emphasize. Late-stage results from 20,000 participants evaluated in The Lancet showed that the vaccine had a 91.6% success rate.

“This is a watershed moment for us,” Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund, which supported the development of Sputnik V and is in charge of its international implementation, said in an interview.

Putin’s promise

More than thirty countries have agreed to buy or produce Sputnik V.

Source: Public announcement by officials from Russia, other countries

Although it is too early to determine the political gains for Putin, Russia is already making much of the impact of the vaccine on the image after years of international condemnation over its involvement in the election of political opponents abroad. State television reports extensively on deliveries to other nations.

Sputnik’s success will not change Putin’s hostility to Western governments, although it could bolster Russia’s geopolitical influence in regions such as Latin America, according to Oksana Antonenko, director of the Control Risks Consultation.

“With this vaccine, it has been proven that it can produce something new that is in demand worldwide,” she said.

Production constraints are the biggest challenge facing all manufacturers as global demand supply is much higher. Russia, which promises free shots to its 146 million people, began production last year and the vaccine is currently being manufactured in countries including India, South Korea and Brazil.

This week it emerged that a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been signed an agreement to produce Sputnik V in Turkey, although the country has agreements to buy 50 million doses of China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. CoronaVac vaccine and 4.5 million doses of Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE.

Despite Russia’s success, domestic demand has so far remained lukewarm, driven by public suspicion of the authorities. Putin, 68, fueled the skepticism in December when he said he was waiting to get the vaccine until it was cleared for people his age.

He has not yet said whether he has been vaccinated, but other countries are not waiting to find out. The day after announcing that he had contracted Covid-19, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on January 25 that he was thanking a “sincere” Putin for the promise of 24 million doses of Sputnik V in the next two months. Three days later, Bolivian President Luis Arce personally delivered a lot at La Paz airport.

Latin America proves fertile territory. Argentina, which has struggled to get vaccine supplies, has launched its massive vaccination program after receiving more than half a million Sputnik V doses by January. Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela join. In Brazil, the largest market in the region, is announced on February 3 to scrap the requirement for phase three trials for emergency use, could accelerate approval.

In December, Guinea became the first African nation to start handing out Sputnik V with Moscow-friendly President Alpha Conde and several ministers taking the vaccine. It expects to receive 1.6 million doses this year and is also in talks about acquiring Chinese vaccines, along with AstraZeneca Plc’s shot. Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic and the Ivory Coast are, among others, potential customers for Russia.

“We are not in a position where we can say no vaccine. We have opted for the Pfizer vaccine, but we are also looking at other vaccines, ”said Professor Joseph Benie, head of the National Institute of Public Hygiene in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. “There is now an urgency to start vaccinating.”

Unlike the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, Sputnik V can be stored in a refrigerator rather than a freezer, making it easier to transport and distribute in poorer and warmer countries. At about $ 20 for a two-stroke vaccine, it is also cheaper than most Western alternatives. Although more expensive than AstraZeneca, the Russian vaccine showed higher efficacy as the British vaccine.

For some countries like Iran, the first group of this week a promised dose of 2 million, Russia offers a nicer political alternative than Western suppliers. But Russia also hits countries like the United Arab Emirates, which is traditionally close to the US and has approved Sputnik V for use.

China, whose vaccination is up to 50% effective in the case of Sinovac Biotech, maintains a lead in Asia. Only a handful of countries have chosen Sputnik V, including the Philippines, which is negotiating 25 million doses.

Chinese developers can now work with Russia. The RDIF has entered into a preliminary agreement people familiar with the matter said Friday to test a joint survey of Sputnik V and China’s CanSino Biologics to increase its effectiveness against Covid-19.