Russia’s Sputnik vaccine attracts Eastern Europe, worries EU

As the European Union struggles to sharpen its deployment of coronavirus vaccines in the 27-member bloc, Russia’s Covid shot is a lure for its Eastern European friends, creating a potential rift in the region.

The Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia have all shown interest in acquiring and implementing Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, a move that could undermine the approach to the authorization and administration of coronavirus vaccines.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Sunday that his country could use the Sputnik V vaccine, even without approval from the EU agency, the European Medicines Agency.

This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz received a call last Friday discussing ‘possible supplies of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to Austria, as well as its possible joint production’, the Kremlin said. pointed out that Austria had started the call. However, Austria has so far indicated that it will not circumvent the EMA in terms of vaccine approval.

Hungary, a country within the EU that has strained relations with Brussels and whose leader, Viktor Orban, is seen as a close ally of Putin, did not have such doubts. It was the first European country to approve in January – to circumvent the EMA – and buy the Sputnik V vaccine.

According to the Moscow Times, the country expects to receive 2 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine over the next three months. Hungary also approved China’s Sinopharm vaccine last month, which goes against the grain again when it comes to EU approval.

On Monday, Slovakia became the second European country to announce that it had bought the Sputnik V vaccine, which secured 2 million doses of the shot. Slovakia’s health minister has said it will not be administered immediately because it still requires the green light from the country’s national drug regulator.

The pivot in the direction of the Russian vaccine comes amid widespread frustration over the slow pace of EU vaccination. This was hampered by the block’s decision to jointly procure vaccines, and the orders came later than other countries, including the UK and the US.

Production issues and bureaucracy – and for some countries, the reluctance to get vaccinated – are also an obstacle to deployment.

Nevertheless, the move by some Eastern European countries to unilaterally endorse Russia’s vaccine will increase the speculation in Brussels, as it undermines the EU’s desire for a unified approach and a sense of fairness in the distribution of vaccines.

There was also particular concern about Sputnik V, although subsequent data supported the efficacy and credibility of the vaccine.

The vaccine was approved by Russia’s health regulator in August last year before clinical trials were completed, prompting skepticism among experts that it may not meet strict safety and efficacy standards. Some experts have argued that the Kremlin is eager to win the race to develop a vaccine for Covid.

Interim analysis of phase 3 clinical trials of the shot, involving 20,000 participants and published in peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet in early February, found that the vaccine was 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19 infection.

In an accompanying article in the Lancet, Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading, England, noted that ‘the development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticized for insignificant haste. But the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is being demonstrated, meaning that another vaccine could now compete to reduce the incidence of Covid-19. “

However, the Gamaleya National Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, which developed the vaccine, has not yet submitted an application to the EMA for marketing the vaccine, the EU Medicines Agency said in early February.

RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund that supported the development of Sputnik V, told CNBC on Monday that he had applied to the EU Drug Agency in mid-February for an ongoing review of the vaccine. However, the EMA did not confirm this, and CNBC asked the EMA for comment.

The European Commission had already warned Hungary, albeit indirectly, against the use of Russia’s vaccine before the EMA approved it. Back in November, a Commission spokesman told Reuters that “the question arises as to whether a Member State wants to administer a vaccine to citizens that has not been reviewed by the EMA”, adding that the confidence of the public in vaccination can cause harm.

“This is where the authorization process and the trust of the vaccine meet. If our citizens started questioning the safety of a vaccine, it would not have done careful scientific research to prove its safety and effectiveness, it is much more difficult to a sufficient the population, “the spokesman said, reports Reuters.

However, Hungary’s decision to go it alone when it comes to the Sputnik V vaccine is not surprising to EU viewers. The country’s right-wing leader, Viktor Orban – a kind of ‘strongman’ similar to Russia’s Putin – has had several disputes with EU executive over the past few years, particularly over signs of the government’s growing authoritarianism. The erosion of judicial independence and freedom of the press in Hungary is particularly important for the EU. However, the Hungarian government rejects such criticism.

Gustav Gressel, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told CNBC on Monday that Hungary’s actions were ‘part of Orban’s campaign for a’ decadent, declining EU ‘and Hungary’s future in the East, with Russia and China, to propagate, a trend according to him it has been going on for some time.

Meanwhile, Daragh McDowell, Europe’s chief and Russia’s chief analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, described the geopolitics surrounding Sputnik V and the EU as ‘political theater more than anything else’.

“For Hungary and Austria, an element of foreign policy-making is involved here, as both Kurz and Orban have generally had a closer relationship with Putin than their European counterparts. In the case of the Czech Republic, the impetus seems to be more to to demonstrate that the government is’ doing something ‘in the face of a rapid increase in the number of cases in February,’ he said.

There are also doubts as to whether Russia has the capability to supply its Sputnik V vaccine to Europe on a larger scale.

“Although the Sputnik vaccine is in principle an effective vaccine, Russia is having great difficulty in getting the mass production right … there is still not enough Sputnik vaccine produced,” Gressel said. McDowell noted that “the question is whether Sputnik V can make a noticeable difference, given regulatory problems and existing logistical problems, and whether the vaccine can be produced in sufficient quantities by Russian producers or under license.”