By Finian Cunningham
February 25, 2021 "
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Sputnik News"
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European Union, as is well known, has a big
problem from slow rollout of vaccinations
against the Covid-19 pandemic. Three vaccines
approved so far by the bloc are hit by
shortfalls in production. So why doesn’t the EU
avail of the Russian jab to help speed up
inoculation?Officials in Brussels have
claimed that Russia hasn’t submitted
sufficient data on its Sputnik V vaccine in
order for the European Medicines Agency – the
regulatory body – to give it the green light for
administering.
However, the Russian makers of Sputnik V
maintain that they have followed all the
necessary data requirements set out by the EMA.
So what is the hold-up? The Russian
formula has proven its effectiveness against the
disease. A study published in the peer-reviewed
medical journal, The Lancet, found that Sputnik
V was nearly 92 per cent effective and safe
against symptomatic cases of Covid-19 in a
large-scale trial.
The Russian treatment is comparable in
efficacy to the three vaccines approved so far
by the European regulator: those produced by
Western pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca,
Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.
Other countries are
reportedly pushing ahead with what has been
called “Operation Sputnik” whereby they are placing
orders for the Russian vaccine in anticipation of
the EU giving official approval. Hungary, Croatia,
Slovakia and Czech Republic are among EU nations
which are in the process of stockpiling the Russian
medicine.
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Unfortunately, what seems to be at play here in a
deplorably negative sense is a Cold War mindset of
suspicion and antipathy towards the Russian vaccine.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission
President, has cast aspersions on Russia’s offer to
supply Sputnik V. She hinted that Moscow is trying
to use the vaccine as a soft power weapon to promote
Russia’s international image.
“We still wonder why Russia is offering,
theoretically, millions and millions of doses
while not sufficiently progressing in
vaccinating its own people,” Von der Leyen told
a news conference last week.
Such cynicism is contemptible. The implication is
that Russia has sinister aims rather than a more
simple explanation being one of solidarity and
mutual interest in getting the pandemic under
control.
Von der Leyen’s latent Russophobia has been
articulated more explicitly by Poland and the Baltic
states. Politicians there have publicly stated they
would not accept the Russian vaccine even if it were
approved by the EU.
The Baltic states even gone even further to
claim that Russia is using the pandemic and
“vaccine diplomacy” as a way to weaken the European
Union.
The only people harming the EU are people
like Von der Leyen and Russophobes in Brussels who
cannot make policies without looking at everything
through an anti-Russia prism. These same people have
militarized relations with Russia with gung-ho
support for NATO’s expansionism along Russia’s
borders, while interfering in Russia’s internal
affairs by supporting dubious provocateurs like
Alexei Navalny, and calling for the cancellation of
the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.
Europe’s vaccination program is arguably a shambles
overseen by Brussels’ bumbling bureaucracy. While
potential solutions are forthcoming from Russia’s
Sputnik V vaccine, the bureaucrats in Brussels are
pondering about “evil” Russian designs.No wonder
then that several EU countries are ignoring the
Russophobes and going ahead with ordering their own
national supplies of Russia’s vaccine, knowing that
their populations cannot rely on rational, objective
decisions being made in Brussels by people like Von
der Leyen. It is the stupidity of such people that
is undermining the EU and its central authority, not
Russia.
Eventually, human need and common sense will
prevail over Cold War-style obduracy. Restive
populations desperate to get back to some societal
and economic normalcy are not going to tolerate
ideological obstacles to effective vaccination,
which Russia’s Sputnik V offers. And given the
shortfall problems the EU is facing over existing
vaccines, the Brussels bureaucrats are going to have
to get real with availing of rational solutions, of
which Russia’s vaccine is potentially a vital part.
It’s just a pity the scientists couldn’t invent a
vaccine that is effective against Russophobia.
Finian
Cunningham
has written extensively on international affairs,
with articles published in several languages. He is
a Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and
worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society
of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a
career in newspaper journalism. He is also a
musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he
worked as an editor and writer in major news media
organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and
Independent. - "Source"
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