A dose of reality: Russia already has doubts about the Russian geopolitical vaccine “Sputnik V”

It is possible that the Sputnik V vaccine is indeed effective and the optimism is not unfounded. Suppose the EU’s Foreign Policy Commissioner Josep Borrell even congratulated Russia on this.

But words are one thing and deeds quite another. Analysts caution that EU leaders must carefully assess the situation before considering whether to buy doses of this vaccine.

And the situation was described quite precisely on Wednesday by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. She said: “I have to say that we still wonder why Russia is theoretically offering millions of doses of the vaccine, even though it is showing no progress in vaccinating its own people. This question needs an answer. “

Mr von der Leyen added that for Sputnik V to be approved for use in the Community by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Russia must admit inspectors in the factories and provide access to absolutely all vaccine data.

Propaganda line

Experts still believe that expecting transparency from Russia is naive. The only thing that counts is that Russia assures that the EMA will soon give the green light to Sputnik V, but the agency assures that it has not received any data yet.

According to Nico de Pedro, a researcher at the Art Institute of Public Administration in Spain, Russia is basically carrying out its usual global disinformation campaign: glorifying its product but casting doubt on the safety and efficacy of Western vaccines.

“When the Russians have something that they believe is strategically beneficial to the Kremlin, efforts are being made to promote their vaccine and disparage others,” said De Pedro, who drew attention to the content of Russian state media.

Suppose, as mentioned, the Russian press announced last week that the EMA is already considering an application to approve Sputnik V, although this is not true. In other posts, we wrote that Pfizer falsified clinical trial data.

Part of these articles gives readers the idea that the West is criticizing the Russian vaccine because it cannot accept that Russian science is more advanced.

There are few vaccinated people in Russia, although the doses are definitely sufficient. And this speaks of a paradox: if you lied all the time, the moment you tell the truth, no one will believe you anymore.

“It just came to our attention then. Without a doubt, that message is an order from the Kremlin. It comes from above,” says N. de Pedro.

Sputnik V has been approved so far in 29 countries, many of which are traditional allies of Russia. However, the analyst points to the risk of Moscow: it is difficult to protect Russians from propaganda campaigns against vaccines, which are aimed at the West, and at the same time encourage them to get vaccinated with Sputnik V.

“There are few people vaccinated in Russia, although the doses are really sufficient. And this speaks of a paradox: if you have lied all the time, the moment you tell the truth, no one will believe you anymore”, emphasizes N. de Pedro.

Hungary is already vaccinated

Of course, the representatives and supporters of Sputnik V in Russia have a completely different vision.

Kirill Dmitriev, director of the Russian direct investment fund that financed the vaccine, says his team is the victim of a disinformation campaign and, in fact, Sputnik V is “the best in the world.”

As the debate progresses, more and more countries in Europe view the Sputnik V vaccine more favorably; not only Hungary, but also Slovakia and Croatia have expressed their support for the vaccine and are already in talks with Moscow. The Lithuanian government says it will not buy Russian vaccines.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, a German MEP who represents Russia’s strategy on Sputnik V and the doping scandals that have shamed the country.

According to the politician, the Kremlin’s lure endangers the EU’s own vaccination strategy, as individual countries may decide to turn to Russia and buy its vaccines, if the Community continues to lack Western vaccines.

The most striking example is Hungary, where people are already being vaccinated with Sputnik V. This unilateral action is possible in the Community, but according to Von Cramon-Taudabel it undermines the overall EU strategy.

“Russia controls the laboratories and clinics where the vaccine was tested. It is doubtful that all international criteria are met. We aim for high standards, but this is not possible when urgent bilateral agreements are reached,” he said.

He noted that Russia was already successfully inciting tensions in Ukraine: a “symbolic dose of vaccines” was recently delivered to the occupied Donbass.

Where is the data on thousands of volunteers?

And The Lancet? The article, which appeared on February 2, states – with the blessing of critics in the West – that the efficiency of Sputnik V reaches 91.6%.

However, the published results of phase III clinical trials are increasingly being questioned. The most prominent critic is Enrico Bucci, professor of biology at Temple University in Pennsylvania. your doubts with a group of colleagues reviewed on your blog.

The researcher criticized the preliminary data on the vaccine provided by the developers of Sputnik V last year, and now says: “Yes, one step ahead. But the most important thing is the ability to verify the information, which is not there. “

E. Bucci notes that there are inaccuracies in the published material. Furthermore, the Sputnik V team of researchers refused to give independent researchers access to the “raw” data, which is the only way to check the information for so-called anomalies.

What are those inaccuracies? The study, published by The Lancet, is based on Nov. 24 data of about 14.9 thousand. participants in clinical trials who were vaccinated with both doses of the vaccine.

But on November 11, the Russian direct investment fund itself announced that 16,000 people had been vaccinated with both doses. volunteers. A little later, that 19 thousand received both doses. volunteers.

There is no explanation why data on several thousand missing vaccinees were not included in the Lancet study. According to E. Bucci, this may mean that Russia wants to hide information that is unfavorable to it about the safety or efficacy of the vaccine.

“Manufacturers of other vaccines do not have such opacity, even Chinese companies that provide a lot of information, and this is consistent,” said the researcher, who has already approached The Lancet with his colleagues.

According to E. Bucci, Russia wants to hide information that is unfavorable to it about the safety or efficacy of the vaccine.

Russia, of course, denies any suspicions. For their part, other researchers are taking a more balanced approach, like Jeremy Rosman of the University of Kent, for example, noting that developers of other vaccines have not given independent researchers access to “green” data.

But Rosman also agrees that there are reasons for concern. There were deviations in the research, and yes, not everyone who was vaccinated became part of a study published in The Lancet; it is possible that the most favorable data were selected.