Putin’s once despised vaccine is now a favorite in the fight against the pandemic

Photographer: Jorge Bernal / AFP / Getty Images

President Vladimir Putin’s announcement in August that Russia released the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine for use even before safety testing was completed sparked skepticism worldwide. Now he can reap diplomatic dividends as Russia delights in its greatest scientific advance since the Soviet era.

Countries are lining up to supply Sputnik V after peer-reviewed results published in the medical journal The Lancet showed this week that the Russian vaccine protects against the deadly virus as well as American and European vaccines, and with much more effectiveness than Chinese rivals.

At least 19 countries have approved inoculation for use, including Hungary, a member state of the European Union, while important markets like Brazil and India are close to authorizing it. Now Russia is turning its eyes to the award-winning EU market as the bloc struggles with its vaccination program amid supply shortages.

In the global battle to defeat a pandemic that claimed 2.3 million lives in just over a year, the race for vaccines has taken on geopolitical importance as governments seek to emerge from the enormous social and economic damage caused by imposed locks to limit the spread of the virus. This gives Russia an advantage as one of the few countries where scientists have produced an effective defense.

His decision to name the Sputnik V after the world’s first satellite, whose launch in 1957 gave the Soviet Union an impressive triumph against the United States to start the space race, only underlined the scale of the importance Moscow attached to the feat. The results of the final stage tests of 20,000 participants analyzed in The Lancet showed that the vaccine has a success rate of 91.6%.

“This is a turning point for us,” said Kirill Dmitriev, executive director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, who supported the development of Sputnik V and is in charge of its international deployment.

Putin’s promise

More than 30 countries have agreed to buy or produce Sputnik V

Source: public announcement by officials from Russia and other countries

Although it is too early to assess Putin’s political gains, Russia is already making much of the impact of the vaccine’s soft power on its image after years of international condemnation for electoral meddling and selection of political opponents at home and abroad. State television reports extensively on deliveries to other nations.

Sputnik’s success will not change hostility towards Putin among Western governments, although it can strengthen Russia’s geopolitical influence in regions like Latin America, according to Oksana Antonenko, director of the consulting firm Control Risks.

“With this vaccine, it has proven to be able to produce something new that is sought after worldwide,” she said.

Production restrictions are the biggest challenge faced by all manufacturers, as global demand far exceeds supply. Russia, promising free vaccines for its population of 146 million, started production last year and the vaccine is currently being manufactured in countries like India, South Korea and Brazil.

This week, a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed an agreement to produce Sputnik V in Turkey, although the country has agreements to buy 50 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine from Sinovac Biotech Ltd. in China and 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE vaccine.

Despite Russia’s success, domestic demand remains lukewarm until now, driven by public suspicion by the authorities. Putin, 68, fueled skepticism in December, when he said he was waiting to receive the vaccine until it was released to people his age.

He has not yet said whether he has been vaccinated, but other nations are not waiting to find out. The day after announcing that he hired Covid-19, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on January 25 that he thanked “genuinely affectionate” Putin for promising 24 million doses of Sputnik V over the next two months. Three days later, Bolivian President Luis Arce personally received a lot at La Paz airport.

Latin America is proving to be fertile territory. Argentina, which has been struggling to obtain vaccine supplies, began its mass inoculation program after receiving more than half a million doses of Sputnik V in January. He joined Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela. In Brazil, the region’s largest market, a decision announced on February 3 to discard the requirement for phase three tests for emergency use could accelerate approval.

Guinea became the first African nation to start dispensing Sputnik V in December with President Alpha Conde, a friend from Moscow, and several ministers taking the vaccine. She expects to receive 1.6 million doses this year and is also in talks to purchase Chinese vaccines, along with the injection of AstraZeneca Plc. Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic and Ivory Coast are among other potential customers in Russia.

“We are not in a position where we can say no to any vaccine. We opted for the Pfizer vaccine, but we are looking at other vaccines too, ”said Professor Joseph Benie, head of the National Institute of Public Hygiene in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. “There is an urgency now to start vaccinating.”

Unlike the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, Sputnik V can be stored in a refrigerator instead of a freezer, facilitating transport and distribution in poorer, hotter countries. For about $ 20 for a double vaccination, it is also cheaper than most Western alternatives. Although more expensive than AstraZeneca, Russian inoculation showed greater effectiveness than the UK vaccine.

For some nations, such as Iran, which received the first batch of 2 million doses promised this week, russia offers a more palatable political alternative than western suppliers. But Russia is also making inroads in countries like the United Arab Emirates, which is traditionally close to the United States and has approved Sputnik V for use.

China, whose inoculations are as low as 50% effective in the case of Sinovac Biotech, remains the leader in Asia. Only a handful of countries have opted for Sputnik V, including the Philippines, which is in talks for 25 million doses.

Chinese developers can now join Russia. RDIF closed a preliminary agreement to test a combined shooting regime for Sputnik V and CanSino Biologics in China to increase effectiveness against Covid-19, people with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.