Russia is selling millions of doses of its local Sputnik V vaccine abroad, becoming a major supplier of an injection that could give Moscow a valuable slice of the global Covid-19 vaccine market and potentially gain Russia’s geopolitical influence worldwide. under development.
Argentina is the first large country outside Russia to start vaccinating with Sputnik on a large scale. However, the launch highlighted issues related to the lack of transparency about the effectiveness of the state-sponsored Sputnik V, which generated some distrust among Argentines regarding its security.
Moscow approved Sputnik V for home use in August, before finishing testing. Test data released since then showed that Sputnik was 91.4% effective in protecting people against Covid-19, and a peer-reviewed study is due to be published in the coming weeks. About a million Russians were shot.
Other countries have rushed to buy a vaccine cheaper than Western alternatives. Sputnik V, named after the Soviet satellite launched into orbit during the Cold War, ranks third in the world in doses ordered by low- and middle-income countries, according to Duke University’s Global Health Innovation Center, ahead American pharmaceuticals Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. and vaccines from China. Eight countries outside Russia have authorized the shot for emergency use.
Still, Sputnik V has not been approved by Western health authorities nor has it received authorization from WHO, on which many developing countries depend to check vaccines. Russia has initiated talks with the European Medicines Agency on the approval of the injection in the European Union and has requested authorization from WHO.