DISINFO: There is a conspiracy ripening against Russian vaccine
SUMMARY
There is a conspiracy ripening against the Russian vaccine. There is an ancient bad feeling called envy. And now the West is being envious of Russia because Russia was the first to create the vaccine.
RESPONSE
This is part of a Russian disinformation campaign accusing international bodies and Western institutions of having a hidden agenda. This assumption is based on the fact that the announcement of the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V was met with scepticism and criticism, even by some Russian specialists.
There is no conspiracy behind the widespread reservations about the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. The doubts are caused by the fact that Russia didn’t complete the large trials which WHO insists that a vaccine must undergo involving thorough testing to examine the vaccine’s safety and efficacy before it is released. Rolling out an inadequately vetted vaccine could endanger the people receiving it. In fact, there is evidence that Russia has at all times perceived the development of a coronavirus vaccine mainly in terms of geopolitical and economic gain.
Researchers are currently testing 58 vaccines in clinical trials on humans, and 15 have reached the final stages of testing. At least 85 preclinical vaccines are under active investigation in animals.
See other examples in our database, such as claims that the UK launched a smear campaign against it; that the WHO and Microsoft sabotaged the Russian vaccine; that Europe is turning to Russia due to its desperate need for a vaccine; or that the West criticises the Sputnik V because it can’t accept Russia’s primacy, and because its pharmaceutical companies will lose billions of dollars, and "Western attacks on the Russian coronavirus vaccine are a corporate cold war against humanity" or "Russian progress in COVID-19 vaccine has become for the West an outrageous challenge".