MOSCOW (AP) – Russia’s presumption in August that it was the first country to authorize a coronavirus vaccine sparked skepticism at the time due to insufficient evidence. Six months later, as demand for the Sputnik V vaccine grows, experts are once again asking questions, this time about whether Moscow can keep up with all orders from countries that want it.
Slovakia received 200,000 doses on March 1, although the European Medicines Agency, the European Union’s pharmaceutical regulator, only began reviewing its use on Thursday. in an accelerated process. The president of the harsh Czech Republic said he wrote directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin to get a supply. Countries in Latin America, Africa, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East are expecting millions of doses in a wave of Russian vaccine diplomacy.
“Sputnik V continues to conquer Europe with confidence,” anchor Olga Skabeyeva told state television channel Russia-1.
Dmitry Kiselev, the network’s top pro-Kremlin anchor, caught hyperbole last month and rebelled: “Russia’s coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, is the best in the world.”
State television channels have widely covered vaccine exports, citing praise from Russia from abroad and airing segments about countries’ difficulties with Western vaccines.
Early criticism of Sputnik V has been dampened by a report in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet which said large-scale tests showed it was safe, with an effectiveness rate of 91% against the virus.
This could help renew Russia’s image toward scientific, technological, and benevolent power, especially when other countries run out of COVID-19 vaccines because richer countries collect Western-made versions or manufacturers struggle with a limited production capacity.
“The fact that Russia is among the five countries that were able to rapidly develop a vaccine … allows Moscow to present itself as a power of high-tech knowledge rather than a declining gas pump,” he said. foreign affairs analyst Vladimir Frolov.
Some experts say increasing the use of vaccines from China and Russia (which have not been as popular as those in the West) could offer a faster way to increase global supply. Others point out that Russia wants to add geopolitical points.
“Putin uses (the vaccine) to reinforce a very worn-out image of Russia’s scientific and technological skills,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization’s Collaboration Center. in national and global health law. “It uses it for geostrategic purposes in areas where Russia would like to have spheres of influence.”
Another question is whether Russia can deliver. China has supplied millions of doses to other countries, but production of Sputnik V appears to be much lower than demand for now.
“They were successful beyond their wildest dreams, as the vaccine was actually a viable, marketable product,” said Judy Twigg, a professor of political science who specializes in global health at Virginia Commonwealth University. “They have made all these explicit and implicit promises to people inside and outside Russia about access to this product which is now unexpectedly fantastic. And now they are caught trying, stirring, trying to figure out how to fulfill all these promises.”
Russia must also take care of its own. Authorities have announced plans to vaccinate 60 percent of adults, about 68 million people, by the end of June.
National deployment in Russia has been slow, compared to other countries, with about 4 million people, or less than 3% of the population, vaccinated at the end of February. Part of this could also be due to widespread reluctance among Russians to rely on vaccines.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund, which finances and markets the vaccine abroad, has not responded to a request for comment on how many doses will go to other countries. He said earlier that he has received requests for 2.4 billion doses from more than 50 countries.
Airfinity, a London-based scientific analysis company, estimates that Russia has agreed to supply some 392 million doses abroad and that there are talks with countries for at least 356 million more.
Judging by production and exports so far, “Russia is a long way from being able to deliver,” said Rasmus Hansen, CEO and founder of Airfinity.
Russia manufactured just over 2 million doses last year amid reports from local producers who were having trouble buying equipment and manufacturing the second component of the two-shot vaccine.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on February 20 that more than 10 million doses of Sputnik V have been produced.
Sputnik V is a viral virus vaccine that uses a harmless virus that carries genetic material to stimulate the immune system. Producing it is a complicated process, said Elena Subbotina, a consultant for the Central and Eastern European team at CBPartners, a pharmaceutical consultant. Producers cannot guarantee stable production because working with organic ingredients involves a lot of variability in the quality of the finished product.
Some countries that have been offered large batches of Sputnik V have not yet approved their use.
In India, which has committed 125 million doses, the vaccine is being studied to determine if it produces a comparable immune response. Brazil’s health ministry said it is negotiating the purchase of 10 million doses, but the country’s regulatory agency has not yet authorized its use. Nepal, which has been offered 25 million doses, has also not been approved.
Other countries have had delays in receiving shipments from Sputnik V.
Argentina received about 2.5 million doses on March 1, although at some point the government expected 5 million in January and more than 14 million more in February. Officials in Hungary, who agreed to buy 2 million doses for three months, said on January 22 they expected 600,000 doses in the first 30 days, but only got 325,600 in early March. Mexico signed an agreement for 24 million doses and expected to receive 400,000 in February, but only reached 200,000.
Russia’s Direct Investment Fund has agreements with manufacturers in countries such as Brazil, South Korea and India to increase production, but there is little evidence that overseas manufacturers have produced large quantities of vaccine until now.
Brazilian company Uniao Quimica is in the pilot testing phase, the results of which will be shared with Russia before the company can produce it for sale. Indian pharmacist Hetero Biopharma, with an agreement to make 100 million doses, would start production in early 2021, but it is unclear if it has really started.
South Korean company GL Rapha, which expects to make 150 million doses this year, will manufacture finished products before March, said Kim Gi-young, a company official.
So far, Russia has not faced any criticism for delaying the supply of Sputnik V to other countries, with foreign officials optimistic about the agreements.
Hungary is still waiting for large shipments, but he expressed optimism to receive them.
“The Russian side, with a minimum delay, will comply with the 600,000 doses agreed in the first phase and then the additional 1.4 million doses,” Hungarian Secretary of State Tamas Menczer said last month. Prime Minister Viktor Orban added on Friday: “The Russians are practically fulfilling their promises.”
Promising more than can be delivered seems to be a universal problem with coronavirus vaccines, and is a real risk for Russia as well, said Theresa Fallon, director of the European Center for Asian Studies Russia based in Brussels.
“They have won the gold medal for creating this so effective vaccine,” he said. “But the problem is, how will they implement it?”
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Writers of the Associated Press, Aniruddha Ghosal, in New Delhi, India; David Biller in Rio de Janeiro; Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Justin Spike and Bela Szandelszky in Budapest, Hungary; and Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed.
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