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Coronavirus pandemic
OpinionLetters

Letters | EU scepticism of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine shows how politics gets in the way of coronavirus fight

  • Even though a diverse selection of vaccines is in the public interest, in reality foreign policy seems to play a role in which provider countries select

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A vial of the Sputnik V vaccine is seen during a trial in Moscow in September last year. The decision by Hungary, an EU member, to buy the Russian-made vaccine was not well received by the European authorities. Photo: AFP
Letters

The hope that the curtain will fall on the Covid-19 pandemic continues in 2021. New vaccines are being developed, a diversity that allows people to choose what they believe would suit them best and avoid potential allergic reactions.

However, countries have been forced to decide on who their providers will be. Some purchased vaccines out of a sense of urgency, such as when the Trump administration in the US committed to buying 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine while it was still in development. India, meanwhile, has not yet bought the Pfizer vaccine due to the lack of a local clinical trial, high prices and the -70 degrees Celsius storage requirement.
That many countries were steered by political alignment was very evident in Europe. The European Union approved Pfizer’s jab in December, Moderna’s in January and now AstraZeneca’s, but has not yet approved the Sputnik V vaccine produced by Russia’s Gamaleya Centre.

Member countries booked doses of the Pfizer vaccine while it was in development. However, when Hungary expressed interest in ordering the Russian vaccine in November, the European Commission responded with scepticism, saying the vaccine needed to be authorised by the European Medicines Agency. Josep Borrell, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, accused Russia of using false information to sell its vaccine and discrediting Western-made vaccines.

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Hungary ordered 6,000 doses of Sputnik V, but it was later reported that it would rely on buying vaccines through the EU procurement mechanism or directly from China. More recently, Hungary announced it will use the Russian vaccine after all due Brussels’ slow response.

So far, the EU has approved only vaccines produced by Western pharmaceutical companies.

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