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Moscow was the first to announce the news: Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to cooperate in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The “potential vaccine co-production prospects” were mostly affected, the Kremlin said. A little later, the German media reported about it. A spokeswoman for the German government said yesterday (December 6) that the chancellor had been open about the use of European facilities for the production of the Russian vaccine.
Problems with the second dose in Russia.
This issue was discussed in December by the Health Ministers of Germany and Russia, Jens Spahn and Mikhail Murashko. The two ministers agreed that experts from both sides would start talks on the issue, with the aim of “finding facilities for the joint production of the Russian vaccine.” The Kremlin claims that Merkel and Putin have agreed that the two countries’ health ministries and other responsible institutions will continue negotiations on the issue.
Russia was the first country in the world to use a coronavirus vaccine in August last year, without waiting for the end of the last clinical phase of the trials. Sputnik V vaccines started in early December. In Russia, however, there is insufficient capacity to rapidly produce large quantities of the vaccine. For the purposes of immunization with Sputnik V, two doses are needed per person, differing in composition, and the Russian media reports that the country is having difficulty producing enough vaccines for the second dose.
About 800,000 people were vaccinated in Russia in one month. Moscow intends to export its vaccine to other countries in the world, but urgently needs cooperation in production. For example, Sputnik V is planned to be produced in India in the future.
A combination of Sputnik V and the Astra Zeneca vaccine?
Meanwhile, Russia’s State Fund for Direct Investment (RFDI), which is charged with selling Sputnik V abroad, has already sought cooperation with British manufacturer Astra Zeneca: an agreement has been reached to test a combination of the two vaccines. The study will analyze whether immunity improves if one vaccine is used in the first immunization and the other in the second.
There are currently vaccine shortages in Germany and across the EU, but Russia cannot be expected to help in this regard, as the Russian vaccine has not been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). So far, the Russians have not requested it at all.
Germany
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