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What’s the story?
This was the race the Kremlin desperately wanted to win.
The global effort to find and develop an effective vaccine for the coronavirus was not just a matter of life and death for the participating countries: it was a matter of national pride.
Yesterday interim test data showed that the Russian vaccine, known as Sputnik V, is nearly 92 percent effective against symptomatic Covid after two doses, given according to many of the jobs developed in the West.
Phase three trials reported by the Gamaleya National Research Center, which developed the vaccine in Moscow, show few or very few side effects in 20,000 participants.
The Russian vaccine works in a similar way to the Oxford / AstraZeneca injection: by inserting the genetic material Covid-19 into a harmless adenovirus, then injecting it into the patient.
So-called “vector viral” vaccines are easier to store and cheaper to produce – making them more suitable than “spike protein” jabs, such as the Pfizer and Moderna offerings.
For the Russian government, the apparent safety of the Sputnik vaccine represents not only a national and public health impact but a relief, since authorities began circulating the vaccine prior to the test results.
More than 1.5 million people, including Moscow Telegraph journalist Nataliya Vasilyeva, have already been found. That gamble seems to have paid off.
Ian Jones, a professor at the University of Reading, and Polly Roy, a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, yesterday noted that the development of the injection “has been criticized for unusual haste, corner cutting, and lack of transparency. ”.
“But the result reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination has been proven,” he said.
“Another vaccine can now enter the fight to reduce Covid-19 incidents.”
Others are more likely. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, has been reluctant to deal with the news of Sputnik V, despite his dedicated support for Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford / AstraZeneca.
In a preparatory meeting with reporters yesterday, the Prime Minister’s criticism stated that any idea about vaccines was up to scientists, not Downing Street. Asked why Mr Johnson had not yet welcomed the news, the danger would not comment further.
Mr Johnson’s confidence in welcoming the news was shared with his cabinet, which did not mention the vaccination all day.
Looking back
That could be explained by the fact that the news follows months of confusion over the UK ‘s own vaccine distribution, which began with the first NHS injection in December.
The first dose of Russia, meanwhile, was introduced in August. President Vladimir Putin announced on television that his daughter was one of the first to receive him.
The Russians have not been shy about treating the development of the injection as a competition, either. The name of the product refers to Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite launched from Earth.
Launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, that satellite marked both a major turning point in the space race and a bitter loss to the United States.
For UK politicians, who are proud of their “world-influencing” international comparisons, Russia’s vaccine success is sad, although the timing of the information could not have been to be worse.
Hours later, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab issued a statement criticizing Russian courts for their imprisonment Alexei Navalny, an opposition politician who returned to the country after near-miss poisoning by a zero-poison agent. , which is thought to have been made by Russian intelligence services.
Anything else?
All of this could mean that the UK is unlikely to want to co-operate with Russia when the injection is introduced – but Russian scientists have suggested a partnership with Britain. already.
Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the group that funded Sputnik V and a close ally of Mr Putin, said a bullet of his vaccine could be linked to one of AstraZeneca’s injections “working better as immunity is getting stronger”.
“This idea, known as heterogeneous augmentation, is at the heart of the Sputnik vaccine because we use two different images and we believe this is the best way to fight mutations and this also fostering partnerships between different vaccine manufacturers, “he told the BBC.
The proposal raises an interesting diplomatic question for ministers, as well as potential concerns about vaccine effectiveness and logistics.
A supply mix of Sputnik and AstraZeneca would mean unparalleled cooperation between public health bodies between the two countries. Before the advent of coronavirus, the last major incident dealt with by Public Health England was the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury by representatives of the Russian GRU, which marked a sharp cooling in relations.
Elsewhere, both countries also want to use vaccines as a diplomatic tool abroad. With supply running short and almost all manufacturers based in richer countries, inoculations could be a major source of soft energy for the developed states to fund their development – into both the UK and Russia.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has already announced that the UK will use its war fund of more than 400 million vaccines to help poor countries around the world once Britons are protected. Russia, meanwhile, has shipped tens of millions of orders from Egypt, Nepal, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina for Sputnik.
Both are likely to use vaccines to strengthen their influence in areas of diplomatic interest, as well as through politically neutral schemes such as the WHO Covax.
The update will be acceptable
The development of any new vaccine is a lottery for the global fight against coronavirus because the disease will not be brought under control until it is treated everywhere.
But the success of the Sputnik V injection seems to leave an interesting legacy for Western Russia’s rivals: accept and support Mr Putin’s vaccine and consider taking it with their own, or continue to do so. omit.
Mr Johnson’s current strategy, to continue talking about Britain’s successes while defending its products for first-class distribution, comes to an end when UK adults get their doses.
What he and others are doing next about Sputnik V could signal a major shift in Russia ‘s relationship with the West and in the wake of the pandemic.