Putin's vaccine: Now even Sputnik V is on Europe's shortlist

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Procuring corona vaccines could do better for Europeans.

In international comparison, many EU countries are far behind with their vaccination campaigns.

The European average of vaccinations per 100 inhabitants is just 2.24, while countries like the USA and Great Britain have many times that, not to mention vaccination world champion Israel.

Germany is hardly above the EU average.

The lack of vaccination doses threatens to further slow down the already sluggish vaccination campaign.

In addition, a dispute with the pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca has escalated, which instead of the promised 80 million doses of its vaccine only wants to deliver around 31 million doses to the EU.

However, AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot assured in the WELT interview that his company had never committed itself to fixed delivery quantities.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is currently in talks with 50 different vaccine manufacturers.

In 23 cases she is already talking to the providers about data and specific study objectives (“scientific advice”).

The Russian vaccine Sputnik V. The Russian Fund for Direct Investment (RDIF), which financed the development of the vaccine, has submitted an application for approval to the EMA.

The studies required for this could begin as early as February.

Effectiveness not yet proven

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However, one should not hope for a quick liberation with Sputnik V in Germany, despite the willingness of Chancellor Angela Merkel in principle to cooperate with Russia on vaccines.

Unlike the vaccine from Pfizer / Biontech, Sputnik V has not yet gone through the third trial phase, which means that the effectiveness of the vaccine has not yet been proven by international standards.

Even without this proof of effectiveness, the responsible Russian authorities have already issued Sputnik V with emergency approval.

A step that even Moscow's main potential customers such as India and Brazil do not really trust.

A national phase II or phase III trial of the active ingredient has been running in India since December.

Brazil has refused an emergency license.

A local manufacturer has now submitted an application for the phase III tests to the responsible Brazilian authorities.

The results would be published “shortly”, according to the RDIF.

But even if Sputnik V were to receive regular market approval in Brazil, Europe-wide approval would not exactly be a matter of a few days.

Hungary allows Sputnik V.

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There are, however, exceptions among skeptical Europeans.

Hungary, for example, went its own way after initial criticism of Russia's inadequate production capacities, as is so often the case, and approved Sputnik V after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán criticized the EU for its sluggish vaccine procurement.

The country plans to purchase two million doses of vaccine from Russia in three tranches over the next three months, enough for one million people.

A small country like Hungary, with less than ten million inhabitants, can still hope to use the Russian vaccine to improve its vaccine mix and thus its vaccination capacities.

But it would probably not work in Germany, other large countries or even all of Europe.

The Russian pharmaceutical industry has so far produced just enough doses of vaccine to vaccinate seven million people, said Sergej Zyb, Russia's deputy minister for industry and trade.

You don't see much of this in Russia itself.

The vaccinations have been running for almost two months and are making slow progress.

Surprising for a country that developed its own vaccine and brought it to market so early - and whose President Vladimir Putin recently launched a “mass vaccination campaign”.

Vaccination numbers not published

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No nationwide vaccination numbers have been published for more than two weeks, and there are no daily numbers for the whole country anyway.

In the middle of the month it was said from Moscow that a million doses of vaccine had been administered.

Calculated per 100 inhabitants, the number was already behind Germany at the time - and that despite the fact that Russia started vaccinating about three weeks earlier.

Criticism is repeatedly voiced from the province that there is not enough vaccine available.

Crisis discussion does not bring a solution to the dispute with AstraZeneca

There is still no solution to the fierce vaccine dispute between the European Union and AstraZeneca.

After the scramble over a meeting, there was a crisis talk in Brussels.

But the views on the concluded contract couldn't be more different.

Source: WELT / Isabell Finzel

The vaccine is mainly available in sufficient quantities in Moscow, where the vaccine is now open to all over 18-year-olds, including foreigners who live permanently in Russia.

Numerous Western journalists took advantage of the opportunity and got themselves vaccinated with Sputnik V.

Diplomats such as Italy's Ambassador Pasquale Terracciano and his colleague from Sri Lanka, Meegahalande Durage Lamawansa, a trained doctor, also received the vaccine, undoubtedly a good advertisement for the vaccine.

So is Sputnik really “ready to help” when it comes to diversifying the vaccine portfolio of Europeans, as the vaccine manufacturer's Twitter channel recently said?

That would be possible purely in terms of production capacities, if Russia actually managed to ramp up its production accordingly - without losing sight of the needs of its own people.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, they want to produce eleven million cans as early as February.

By the end of June, they want to ramp up production to up to 70 million cans.

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Moscow's international partners could also contribute to the spread of the Sputnik vaccine.

In India, for example, local manufacturers are planning to produce up to 300 million cans a year, which will also be exported.

On the other hand, Russia boasts of orders in the tens of millions, for example from Egypt and Nepal.

Just recently, Vladimir Putin promised Mexico 24 million vaccine doses.

Russian manufacturers will have to comply with such agreements first, even if the Europeans choose Sputnik V.

The EU would come too late - once again.