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Sechenov Medical University Press Office
Volunteers are taking part in fax tests all over the world, including in Russia
The announcement that Russia is pushing ahead with its locally developed vaccine for Covid-19 has not only raised international concerns about its security, but also added a lot to both misinformation and humor on social media platforms.
We’ve looked at some of the more shared posts.
Putin the superhero
There have been many satirical memes about the announcement of Russia, divided into a variety of languages. Some portray Russian President Vladimir Putin as a superhero, such as Spiderman or Ironman, who is saving the world.
One of the most popular part-time portraits is Mr. Putin portraying a bear with a giant syringe on his back.
A version of this mother even claims, wrongly, that it was shared by Mr. Putin himself.
Many satirical images have been shared that represent Putin as a superhero
Another widely shared post announcing Russia’s announcement appeared on a Facebook page supporting Mr Putin, and has been shared more than 200,000 times.
It is not an official account of the Russian president, who believed in reducing social media.
But many of the tens of thousands of people who comment on the post in various languages clearly believe it is.
This post is not from the Russian president
The viral post compares the first Soviet satellite that “paved the way for humanity in space” with the Russian fax that “the path to the future will pass without Covid-19, masks and social isolation.”
Increasing international concerns that safety has been compromised in the development of a vaccine has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to urge Russia to follow international guidelines.
A reputation for exaggeration
Another post that also became popular on Facebook claims that Russia “has repeatedly saved the world with its faxes”.
“This is a big overestimation,” says Dr Dora Vargha, a historian and expert in Cold War disease control.
The post lists several vaccinations that were “invented” in Russia, including those for cholera and polio.
It was actually the French scientist Louis Pasteur who discovered the first vaccine for cholera – for a strain of the disease that affects chickens.
Later in 1885, Jaime Ferran, a Spanish physician, developed a vaccine that immunized humans for the first time against cholera.
An American virologist, Dr. Jonas Salk, developed in 1955 the first effective vaccine against polio.
This was followed shortly by another breakthrough of the Cold War – the first oral polio vaccine, still used to eradicate the disease today.
It is represented as both an American and a Russian, as well as Soviet, creation.
Dr Vargha says it should be seen as a collaborative effort between Dr Albert Sabin, an American, and Mikhail Chumakov, a Russian scientist.
How is vaccine news reported in Russia?
By Olga Robinson, BBC Monitoring
The news of a locally produced vaccine has been presented in the Russian state media as a major breakthrough in the fight against coronavirus.
Reports on national television highlighted the reported security of the Russian invention and contained remarks similar to the achievements with the Soviet Union that Sputnik, the first satellite, launched into space.
State TV channels also cited skepticism in the West about the vaccine undergoing enough testing. But these concerns were soon dismissed as “jealousy” and “information attacks” on Russia.
This week’s faster report is reminiscent of the Kremlin’s media coverage of Russia’s Ebola vaccine in early 2016.
State TV then presented the registration of the vaccine in Russia as a triumph of Russian pharmaceutical science, claiming that it was “several times more effective” than any foreign vaccine, without providing evidence.
Criticism of big pharma
An Italian post attributed a controversial quote to President Putin, but it does not appear to have been reported anywhere, including in the Russian media.
The image, which is fun, has been commented on and shared more than 35,000 times on Facebook, says: “Pharma companies have asked us to delay the release of the vaccine! It’s not about economy. Russia does not think about money when it millions of people are killed. “
The quote may be a mistranslation of a similar post from the Putin fan page we saw earlier. The post contains the same criticism of pharmaceutical companies and praise of Russia’s values. However, as already stated, this fan account is not from Putin, and he is not quoted anywhere else in making these statements.
Both reports paint criticism of Russia’s plans to approve a vaccine early if it is driven by profit-hungry pharmaceutical companies.
This ignores the biggest concerns scientists have about the premature release of a Russian vaccine, which is about the lack of published findings from Russia’s trials to date, including safety data.
Other reports have suggested that President Vladimir Putin’s daughter was vaccinated.
Mr. Putin did not say which of his daughters had received the vaccine, but said the only side effects they experienced were a slightly elevated temperature for a short period of time.
A video has been circulated in India along with allegations the clip shows a daughter of President Putin receiving the fax.
The footage is in fact of a participant in Russia’s vaccination process, but she has been identified in Russian media coverage as a cadet in a military medical academy and not Mr Putin’s daughter.
- False and misleading claims about faxes are debunked
- How a false rumor online leads to hate
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