MOSCOW (PA) – Russia’s praise in August of being the first country to authorize a coronavirus vaccine led to skepticism at the time over insufficient testing. 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, even though the European Medicines Agency, the European Union’s pharmaceutical regulator, began reviewing its use on Thursday alone. in an accelerated process. The president of the Czech Republic, hit hard, said he wrote directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin to get a supply. Millions of doses are expected from countries in Latin America, Africa, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East in a wave of Russian vaccine diplomacy.
“Sputnik V continues to conquer Europe with confidence,” Olga Skabeyeva told Russia-1 state television.
Dmitry Kiselev, the network’s main pro-Kremlin anchor, piled on the hyperbole last month, stifling: “The Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, is the best in the world.”
State TV channels have widely covered vaccine exports, citing praise from abroad for Russia and broadcasting segments of countries’ difficulties with Western vaccines.
Early criticism of Sputnik V was overshadowed by a report in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, which said large-scale testing showed it was safe, with a 91% effectiveness against the virus.
This could help renew Russia’s image of scientific, technological and benevolent power, especially as other countries face shortages of COVID-19 vaccines as richer nations collect Western-made versions or manufacturers struggle with limited production capacity. .
“The fact that Russia is among the five countries that have managed to quickly develop a vaccine … allows Moscow to present itself as a high-tech knowledge power rather than a declining gas station,” the foreign affairs analyst said. Vladimir Frolov.
Some experts say that increasing the use of vaccines in China and Russia – which have not been as popular as those in the West – could provide a faster way to increase global supply. Others note that Russia wants to score geopolitical points.
“Putin uses (the vaccine) to strengthen a very dirty picture of Russia’s scientific and technological expertise,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. . “It is used for geostrategic purposes in areas where Russia would like to have spheres of influence.”
Whether Russia can deliver is another question. China has supplied millions of doses to other countries, but production of Sputnik V appears to be much lower than demand.
“They have succeeded beyond the wildest dreams in that this vaccine is actually a viable and 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 great. And now they are stuck, trying to fight, trying to figure out how to fulfill all these promises. ”
Russia must also take care of it. Authorities have announced plans to vaccinate 60 percent of adults, or about 68 million people, by the end of June.
Domestic launch in Russia was slow compared to other countries, with about 4 million people, or less than 3% of the population, vaccinated at the end of February. Some of this could also be due to widespread reluctance among Russians to trust vaccines.
The Russian direct investment fund, which financed and marketed the vaccine abroad, has not responded to a request for comment on how many doses are being taken to other countries. He said earlier that he had received requests for 2.4 billion doses from more than 50 nations.
Airfinity, a scientific analysis company in London, estimates that Russia has agreed to provide about 392 million doses abroad and there are talks with countries for at least another 356 million.
Judging by production and exports so far, “Russia is far from being able to deliver this,” said Airfinity CEO and founder Rasmus Hansen.
Russia manufactured just over 2 million doses last year, amid reports of local producers having trouble purchasing equipment and producing the second component of the double-shot vaccine.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on February 20 that more than 10 million doses of Sputnik V had been produced.
Sputnik V is a viral vector vaccine that uses a harmless virus that carries genetic material to stimulate the immune system. Its production is a complicated process, said Elena Subbotina, a consultant for CBPartners’ pharmaceutical consulting team in Central and Eastern Europe. Manufacturers cannot guarantee stable production, as working with organic ingredients involves great variability in the quality of the finished product.
Some countries that have been offered large batches of Sputnik V have not yet approved it for use.
In India, which has been promised 125 million doses, the vaccine is being studied to determine if it produces a comparable immune response. Brazil’s health ministry says it is negotiating the purchase of 10 million doses, but the nation’s regulatory agency has not yet authorized its use. Nepal, which was offered 25 million doses, also did not give its approval.
Other countries have had delays in receiving Sputnik V deliveries.
Argentina received nearly 2.5 million doses by March 1, even though at one point the government was expecting 5 million in January and more than 14 million more in February. Hungarian officials, who agreed to buy 2 million doses in three months, said on January 22 that they expected 600,000 doses in the first 30 days, but received only 325,600 by early March. Mexico signed an agreement for 24 million doses and hoped to receive 400,000 in February, but received only 200,000.
The Russian direct investment fund has agreements with producers in countries, including Brazil, South Korea and India, to increase production, but there is little indication that foreign producers have made large quantities of vaccine so far.
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 drug maker Hetero Biopharma, with a deal of 100 million doses, was due to start production in early 2021, but it is unclear whether it has actually started.
South Korean company GL Rapha, which expects to deliver 150 million doses this year, will manufacture finished products by March, company official Kim Gi-young said.
So far, Russia has not faced any criticism for delaying the supply of Sputnik V to other countries, with foreign officials optimistic about transactions.
Hungary is still waiting for large shipments, but he expressed optimism about receiving them.
“The Russian side, with a minimum delay, will meet the 600,000 doses agreed in the first phase and then the 1.4 million additional doses,” Hungarian Secretary of State Tamas Menczer said last month. Prime Minister Viktor Orban added on Friday: “The Russians keep their promises quite a lot.”
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 Brussels-based Center for Asian Studies in Russia.
“They won the gold medal for creating this very effective vaccine,” she said. “But the problem is, how will they implement it?”
——-
Associated Press Writers Aniruddha Ghosal of New Delhi, India; David Biller in Rio de Janeiro; Almudena Calatrava of Buenos Aires, Argentina; Justin Spike and Bela Szandelszky in Budapest, Hungary; and Tong-hyung Kim from Seoul, South Korea, contributed.
Follow the coverage of the AP pandemic at:
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak