France crosses Russia on Sputnik

“Depending on how it is used, [ši vakcina] it is a means of aggressive propaganda and diplomacy rather than solidarity and health aid, ”Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Info.

Some Western countries have harshly criticized Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, but Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was vaccinated with Sputnik on Tuesday, rejected the “strange” skepticism, which he said.

J.-Y. Le Drian said that both Russia and China are using their vaccines to increase their influence abroad “before vaccinating their own populations.”

The minister stressed that Russia has announced that it will provide Tunisia with 30 thousand. doses of vaccine and ensured that the message received “a lot of media attention.”

However, COVAX, a United Nations-sponsored vaccine exchange initiative, has already provided the North African country with 100,000. doses of the coronavirus vaccine, and in May Tunisia should receive another 400 thousand. dose, said the head of French diplomacy.

“This is true solidarity work, true cooperation in the field of health”, J.-Y. Le Drianas.

Russia registered Sputnik V in August, before large-scale clinical trials were carried out, so many experts feared the move was too hasty.

Subsequent evaluations have been largely positive: Research published by the authoritative medical journal The Lancet shows that Sputnik is a safe vaccine and its efficacy exceeds 90 percent.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) launched the Sputnik V evaluation procedure this month, an important step that could lead to the approval of the first non-Western vaccine that is safe for use in the European Union.

Delphi recalls that Germany has asked the European Commission to undertake a joint EU-wide procurement of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.

This was recently reported by Politico.

“We have already asked the Commission to initiate a procedure for the acquisition of Sputnik,” said a national official at a press conference in Berlin, adding that “what we are seeing now is that the Commission is initiating this procedure.”

According to the official, the Commission should first analyze the situation in the member states of the European Union and find out which countries would be interested in buying a Russian vaccine, and only then help to negotiate with Russia the exact number of doses.

Following an agreement, the EU member states will buy the Sputnik V vaccine through a treaty mechanism reached by the Union, the interlocutor said. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) received the first batch of Sputnik V in early March, and Moscow is keen to cooperate with the Union in this area.

EMA chief Emer Cooke said Tuesday that the agency was preparing to inspect facilities in Russia where the country could vaccinate against COVID-19. It is not yet clear when the EMA intends to decide on Russian vaccines. According to German officials, the first steps towards acquiring the Russian vaccine may be in the near future.

“We hope that this process can begin even now, while the EMA approval process is still ongoing. We would support the decision to start negotiations today,” said the German representative. The official clarified that formal negotiations have not yet begun with Russia “I think in political terms this will be discussed in the near future,” the official hinted, suggesting that EU leaders could start discussions on Friday at a remote summit of the Council of the European Union.

Some members of the European Union have controversial support for the Russian vaccine at the European Union level. Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said in February that the Sputnik V vaccine was inseparable from “many layers of propaganda and even Russia’s manifest desire to divide the member states of the European Union and their partners in the south and east. “.

Several member states of the European Union, such as Hungary and Slovakia, have already bought Russian vaccines on their own, ignoring the opinion of the EMA.

At least four members of the European Union need an initiative to start negotiations on a vaccine. Last Sunday, the European Commission said that negotiations with the makers of Sputnik V “are not ongoing.” When asked for comment on Wednesday, a spokesman for the European Commission was reluctant to provide more information. “I have nothing more to add, the fact is that the Member States and the European Commission must decide together and can only expand the portfolio of vaccines by consensus,” he said.