Allegations of the American media that Russia is allegedly making attempts to disrupt the campaign to vaccinate the population in the United States and other countries are unfounded.

This was stated by the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, whose statement was posted on the official page of the Russian diplomatic mission on Facebook.

The diplomat stressed that "such insinuations have nothing to do with reality."

“As for the unfounded accusations against us in attempts to“ undermine ”vaccination campaigns in individual countries, we can only explain them by Russophobia rooted in American society.

I would like to believe that reporters from the United States will still understand that the main task of journalism is to present verified information to the audience, and not to replicate gossip and speculation, ”Antonov said.

The Russian diplomat added that Russia is ready to cooperate in the fight against the pandemic with all partners, including the United States, in order to "jointly solve the problem of the availability and equitable distribution of means of protection and prevention against a new coronavirus infection."

The ambassador also recalled that the Russian Federation was the first in the world to register a vaccine against coronavirus - "Sputnik V" - and announced its readiness to supply it on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis to any country.

  • Anatoly Antonov

  • RIA News

  • © Ilya Pitalev

“Nevertheless, in this matter, we continue to face the notorious“ double standards ”.

The West refuses to admit that the achievements of our scientists can help to ensure the health and well-being of all mankind.

Moreover, a targeted campaign is being conducted against domestic drugs, ”Anatoly Antonov emphasized.

He recalled that the 2020 annual report of the US Department of Health and Human Services reported that Washington used the US Department of Health in Brazil to persuade the country to abandon the Sputnik V vaccine.

“In this regard, we would like to emphasize: where it is a question of people's health and life, there should be no place for politics.

We urge our partners to realize this as soon as possible.

Only by combining efforts, we will be able to win the fight against infection, ”the diplomat said.

Charges without evidence


We will remind, on August 5, The New York Times published an article in which it was alleged that Russia was allegedly conducting a disinformation campaign directed against the US authorities and designed to cause mistrust of vaccinations.

As the main argument in favor of this theory, the newspaper cited a certain cartoon circulated on the Patriots.win Internet forum of supporters of right-wing political views.

It shows law enforcers in bulletproof vests with the symbols of the presidential campaign of Joe Baidan and Kamala Harris breaking into the doors of the Americans with a syringe for vaccination.

The cartoon was found on the forum by Graphika, an online disinformation company.

The company claims that this and other similar drawings are being disseminated by individuals allegedly associated with past Russian disinformation campaigns.

At the same time, the report of the Graphika company, which The New York Times refers to, was published in early June.

The newspaper does not provide any other evidence of Russia's "interference" in vaccination issues, but mentions some unnamed officials and outside experts who claim that the Russian side allegedly wants to convince the Americans that the Biden administration is imposing ineffective vaccination drugs on citizens.

It is worth noting that such accusations against Russia have been circulated by the American media over the past few months.

So, in early March, The Wall Street Journal, referring to an unnamed representative of the Center for Global Engagement of the US Department of State, posted an article that the Russian special services through a network of Internet portals allegedly launched an information campaign against the Pfizer vaccine and other drugs produced in the West.

“We can say that these portals are directly connected with the Russian special services.

All of them are foreign owned and outside the United States.

They all have different reach, tone and audience, but they are all part of the ecosystem of Russian propaganda and disinformation, ”the source said.

Later, State Department spokesman Ned Price also made accusations against Russia.

"It is clear that Russia is resorting to old tricks and thereby endangering people by spreading misinformation about vaccines that are known to save lives every day," the official said.

Other American media also circulate claims that an entire Russian campaign against Western vaccines is allegedly organized and is being carried out.

In their articles, American journalists refer to the reports of NGOs and the opinions of their own experts.

Thus, the USA Today edition cites the report of the Alliance for Democracy Assurance as "evidence", which came to the conclusion about the "intervention" of Russia after analyzing the "propaganda" from the Russian Federation, China and Iran on Twitter.

“Of the three countries studied, Russia was the most likely to state the alleged link between Pfizer vaccination and subsequent death of the recipient,” the report, which was cited by USA Today, says.

Washington position


In turn, the press secretary of the White House Jen Psaki on July 16 at a press briefing said that through attempts to undermine confidence in Western vaccines, Russia and China are allegedly promoting their own drugs against coronavirus.

In her speech, she referred to the statements of the US State Department, which had previously been circulated by the American media.

“The US State Department's Center for Global Engagement has found that Russia and China are promoting their vaccines with rhetoric that undermines the credibility of Western vaccine development programs.

This is not just about vaccine competition: the danger and impact of this type of misinformation is to exaggerate the side effects of Western vaccines, ”said a White House spokeswoman.

  • Jen Psaki

  • Reuters

  • © Jonathan Ernst

The US authorities raised the topic of Russian intervention in the issue of vaccination in order to divert the attention of citizens from their own mistakes in the fight against the pandemic, Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with RT.

“Earlier Washington actively blamed China for this, now Russia has been added to it.

In general, these accusations pursue purely practical goals: now the US government shows low efficiency in the fight against the spread of coronavirus in the country.

In addition, the American media in this way support the image of Russia as an enemy in the domestic political discourse, ”the expert explained.

In a similar way, the American political establishment wants to justify the low level of confidence of the US population in their actions, added Konstantin Blokhin.

“It can be expected that this information and propaganda campaign against Russia and China will continue.

After all, the US authorities always, when faced with serious internal problems, switch the arrows to others, ”the political scientist emphasized.

Yuri Rogulyov, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, shares this point of view.

“The fact is that playing the“ Russian intervention ”card has not gone anywhere and will undoubtedly continue in the future.

Now the liberal press is playing it with the filing of the Democrats and Biden, who understands that in the current domestic political situation, they cannot abandon such a position, because otherwise all the blame will fall on them, "the interlocutor of RT explained.

A new outbreak of coronavirus is being registered in the United States, and a rather serious situation has developed in a number of states, which leads to dissatisfaction with the work of the presidential administration, added Yuri Rogulyov.

“Therefore, Joe Biden will be covered by the same problems that killed Trump earlier and prevented him from winning the election, in particular, the epidemic and the deteriorating state of the economy. In this regard, the American press is now preparing the ground to preserve Biden's reputation and, accordingly, deflect the arrows of criticism from the current White House administration, ”the expert concluded.