DISINFO: Unlike West, Russia is the only state that has a vaccine against Covid-19
SUMMARY
The West accuses Russia of spreading disinformation about the coronavirus vaccines being developed in the West in order to destroy the global trust towards the vaccines in general. Russia does not benefit from demolishing the trust towards the vaccine as, unlike the Western states, it is the only country that already has a vaccine against the coronavirus.
RESPONSE
The recently developed pro-Kremlin narrative about Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V. There is credible evidence that the Russian government pressed Russian scientists and researchers to be the first to find a vaccine against Covid-19, and did everything at hand to shorten the process, raising concerns about the safety and efficiency of the Sputnik V vaccine. Reservations and criticism of the Sputnik V vaccine are caused by the fact that Russia hasn’t completed large trials to test the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, and the roll-out of an inadequately vetted vaccine could endanger the people who receive it.
The WHO expressed some reservations about the procedure followed by Russia, initiating talks with Russian authorities about undertaking a review of the vaccine but refusing to endorse it right away. In August 2020, the WHO published a landscape of Covid-19 candidate vaccines, which considered the Russian project developed by Gamaleya Research Institute as being in Phase 1 of clinical testing.
On a side note, the “Science Insider” explains that the Russian certification allows the vaccine to be given to “a small number of citizens from vulnerable groups,” and it stipulates that the vaccine cannot be used widely until larger clinical trials have been completed, which is an essential step in the protocols of the World Health Organization.
In general, there are widespread concerns that the approval of the Russian vaccine against coronavirus is premature. At the time of approval, the vaccine had not even started phase 3 trials, reminds the Lancet.
See more narratives that Russia combats coronavirus more effectively than the democracies, such as Trying to catch up with Russia, the West lost another round in the fight against pandemic; There is no approved COVID-19 vaccine except the Russian one, says Reuters.