- Russian intelligence is spreading disinformation about the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, the WSJ reports.
- Four stores abroad are disseminating information questioning the efficacy and safety of the Pfizer vaccine.
- US intelligence believes this attempt to undermine Pfizer is one way to bolster Russia’s vaccine.
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Russian intelligence officials are trying to question the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, according to a new Wall Street Journal report.
Four publications serving as frontiers for Russian intelligence are spreading information questioning the effectiveness and safety of the Pfizer vaccine, Foreign Ministry officials told the Journal.
Russia is importing misleading information to make Americans doubt whether the US has rushed the approval process for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
“We can say that these stores are directly linked to Russian intelligence services,” an official from the State Department’s Global Engagement Center told the newspaper. “They are all foreign-owned and are outside the United States. They vary greatly in their reach, their tone, their audience, but they are all part of the Russian propaganda and disinformation ecosystem.”
In November, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country hoped to spread its controversial Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to other countries.
Russia announced a successful vaccination against coronavirus in August, but Sputnik V was approved under dubious circumstances. It was released before going through phase 3 trials. In the United States, stage 3 is a requirement before a drug or vaccine can be tested and approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The rushed timeline has prompted health officials to speculate whether the Kremlin has forced vaccine manufacturers to quickly oust Sputnik V to gain a head start in the global race for the cure for the new coronavirus.
U.S. intelligence officials now believe that this attempt to undermine the Pfizer vaccine coming from the Kremlin is another way to bolster Sputnik V status, reports the Journal.
Johnson & Johnson is the latest company to enter the vaccine game. The health giant is offering a single-dose vaccine that the company expects to distribute to 4 million Americans soon.
Johnson & Johnson, whose vaccine was approved by the FDA by the end of February, said it was expected to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of March and 100 million by the end of June.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine included, distributed and now offers the United States three effective vaccines to Americans.
Pfizer and Moderna – the two companies with the coronavirus vaccination that preceded Johnson & Johnson – have 94% and 95% respectively.
Vaccines against the coronavirus have been launched in the United States since December 2020, after Pfizer became the first company to be approved and distributed by the FDA.
With this third vaccine on the market, the US is expected to have enough doses to immunize 300 million people.
More than 57 million people in the United States have already received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine. the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, while Johnson & Johnson requires one.
Last week, President Joe Biden said the U.S. plans to have enough doses of coronavirus vaccines for “every adult in America” by the end of May. Biden’s announcement has accelerated the timeline to reach this threshold by about a month, reports Insider Eliza Relman and Sonam Sheth.
It has been almost a year since the WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic. Since then, more than 28 million people in the United States have contracted the virus, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Of those, more than 500,000 Americans died.
The Department of State did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.