Putin’s once-despised vaccine is now a favorite in pandemic struggles

Photographer: Jorge Bernal / AFP / Getty Images

President Vladimir Putin’s announcement in August that Russia had approved the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine for use before it even completed safety trials, sparked skepticism around the world. Now he can reap diplomatic rewards as Russia basks in arguably the greatest scientific breakthrough since the Soviet era.

Countries are lining up for deliveries of Sputnik V after peer-reviewed results published this week in the medical journal The Lancet show that the Russian vaccine protects against the deadly virus as well as American and European shots, and far more effective than Chinese rivals.

At least 19 countries have approved the vaccination for use, including the member state of the European Union Hungary, while major markets such as Brazil and India are close to approving it. Now Russia is targeting the valued EU market as the bloc grapples 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 to obtain vaccines has taken on geopolitical significance as governments try to escape the massive social and economic damage caused by lockdowns imposed to prevent the spread of the virus. That gives Russia a head start as one of the few countries where scientists have provided an effective defense.

The decision to name Sputnik V after the world’s first satellite whose launch in 1957 gave the Soviet Union a stunning victory over the US to start the space race only underscored the magnitude of the importance Moscow attached to the achievement. Results from the late-stage studies of 20,000 participants, discussed in The Lancet, showed that the vaccine has a 91.6% success rate.

“This is a turning point for us,” said Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of the state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund, which supported Sputnik V’s development and is responsible for its international rollout, in an interview.

Putin’s promise

More than 30 countries agreed to buy or manufacture Sputnik V.

Source: Public announcement by officials from Russia, other countries

While it is too early to gauge Putin’s political gains, Russia has already seen much of the vaccine’s soft-power impact on its image after years of international condemnation over election meddling and attacking domestic political opponents. and abroad. State television reports extensively on deliveries to other countries.

Sputnik’s success will not change hostility to Putin among Western governments, although it could bolster Russia’s geopolitical influence in regions such as Latin America, said Oksana Antonenko, a director at Control Risks Consultancy.

“With this vaccine, it has proven to be able to produce something new that is in demand all over the world,” she said.

Production constraints are the biggest challenge for all manufacturers as global demand far outstrips supply. Russia, which promised free shots for its 146 million residents, started production last year, and the vaccine is currently being produced in countries such as India, South Korea and Brazil.

This week, a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emerged an agreement to manufacture Sputnik V in Turkey, while the country has entered into deals to purchase 50 million doses of China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s CoronaVac vaccine and 4.5 million doses of Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE vaccine .

Despite Russia’s success, domestic demand has so far remained lukewarm, driven by public suspicion of the authorities. Putin, 68, sparked skepticism in December when he said he was waiting for the vaccination to be approved for people his age.

He still has not said whether he has been vaccinated, but other countries are not waiting for it. The day after he announced that he had contracted Covid-19, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Jan. 25 that he had thanked a “genuinely affectionate” Putin for pledging to 24 million doses of Sputnik V over the next two months. Three days later, Bolivian President Luis Arce personally received a party at La Paz airport.

Latin America appears to be a fertile area. Argentina, which has struggled to get supplies of vaccine, began its massive vaccination program after receiving more than half a million doses of Sputnik V in January. It has been joined by Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela. In Brazil, the region’s largest market, a decision announced on Feb. 3 to remove the requirement for phase three emergency trials could speed up approval.

Guinea became the first African country to start dispensing Sputnik V in December, with Moscow-friendly President Alpha Conde and several ministers taking the vaccine. It expects to receive 1.6 million doses this year and is also in talks about obtaining Chinese vaccines along with the injection of AstraZeneca Plc. Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic and Ivory Coast are among others potential customers for Russia.

“We are not in a position where we can say no to a vaccine. We have chosen the Pfizer vaccine, but we are also looking at other vaccines, ”says Professor Joseph Benie, head of the National Institute of Public Hygiene in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. “There is now an urgency to start vaccinating.”

Unlike the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, Sputnik V can be stored in a refrigerator instead of a freezer, making it easier to transport and distribute in poorer and warmer countries. At about $ 20 for a two-shot vaccination, it’s also cheaper than most Western alternatives. Although more expensive than AstraZeneca, the Russian vaccination has turned out to be higher efficacy than the British vaccine.

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

China, whose vaccinations are only 50% effective in the case of Sinovac Biotech, maintains a lead in Asia. Only a handful of countries have chosen Sputnik V, including the Philippines, which are in talks for 25 million doses.

Chinese developers can now cooperate with Russia. The RDIF struck a preliminary deal to test a combined regimen of Sputnik V and CanSino Biologics shots from China to increase effectiveness against Covid-19, people with knowledge of the matter said Friday.