Russian President Vladimir Putin had a lot to crow about Nov. 11 when Russia’s Moscow-based Gamaleya Pharmaceuticals launched the Sputnik V vaccine, exactly one month before Pfizer-BioNTech was approved Dec. 11 for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA}. FDA officials made a big deal over the fact the Sputnik V lacked comprehensive Phase 3 trials, something required by U.S. drug makers. Only a week later Moderna’s U.S.-subsidized mRNA vaccine was given Emergency Use Authorization Dec. 18, paving the way for the drug industry’s frontal assault on the stubborn novel coronavirus that’s caused today 115,267,899 cases and 2,558,926 deaths worldwide. No country has been hit harder and no politician paid a bigger price than 74-year-old former President Donald Trump, with the U.S. hitting 29,364,223 cases today and 528,996 deaths, about a quarter of the worlds’s cases and deaths/
Trump created Operation Warp Speed May 20, 2020 to help subsidize vaccine makers to make a safe-and-effective vaccine by year’s end. President Joe Biden, 78 and his 56-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris told the public in the campaign that there was no way a vaccine would be ready by year’s end, and if it were ready you couldn’t trust it. Once they won the White House Nov. 8, 2020, they were all in the vaccines, giving Trump no credit at all, only blaming him for the “disgraceful” numbers of U.S. cases and deaths. When Election Day rolled around Nov. 3 2020, the U.S. had 9.3 million cases and 232,627 deaths. Biden and Harris said no man should be president with so many Covid-19 cases and deaths. Cases hit 29,364, 223 today with 528,996 deaths, showing that Democrats did a real number on Trump. Chock it up to politics, blaming Trump for the Covid-19 crisis.
When Putin touted Sputnik V Nov. 11, it was dismissed by the FDA, largely due to its incomplete clinical trials. Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, Sputnik V uses the same old fashion technology for the ebola virus, using dead adenoviruses derived from the common cold to generate its immune response to the novel coronavirus. When the British Medical Journal Lancet said Feb. 2 that Sputnik V was safe-and-effective, the world clamored to place orders, including Mexico, Central and South America, Eastern European countries and parts of Asia. Putin has a total winner of a vaccine, granting license to manufacture the vaccine originated from Moscow’s Gamaleya Pharmaceuticals to Brazil and Argentina. Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccines, Sputnik V is more cost effective and can be transported in normal refrigeration, giving a wider reach in the third world.
Approved by Lancet’s scientists as safe-and-effective, it’s inexplicable that a whopping 62% of Russians refuse to take the vaccine, even higher numbers for the age group 18 to 24-year-olds. In the same poll conducted by the Moscow-based Levada Center, 64% of Russians thought the coronavirus was created as a bioweapon. Whatever the findings, it shows ordinary Russians have little trust in their government, even after Lancet showed that Sputnik V was safe-and-92% effective in preventing Covid-19. Putin announced a massive vaccination campaign for Russia’s 145 million population, already vaccinating at least 2 million Russians with the first dose of Sputnik V. Russia has much to be proud about creating a safe-and-effective vaccine, produced at a cheaper cost to enable much of the developing world in Africa and Latin America to get some protection against the deadly novel. coronavirus.
Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, the Sputnik V used two different formulas for both does given 21 days apart. Both doses target the novel coronavirus spike protein but target different vectors to neutralize the virus. Gamaleya scientists thought the two different formulas would provide a broader spectrum with long-lasting immunity. Like the Pfizer-BioNTech and Modern vaccines, Sputnik V can produce mild side effects, including arm soreness, tiredness and slight temperature. Lancet researchers, Profs. Ian Jones and Poly Roy, said Suptnik was first criticized because of its lack of Phase 3 data. “But the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of the vaccination is demonstrated, which remains another vaccine can join the fight to reduce the incidence of Covid-19,” said Jones and Roy, confirming the Sputnik V’s efficacy and safety.
Rolling out the Sputnik V vaccines so quickly, beating everyone to the punch, created skepticism in the West until Lancet put the finding to the acid test. “Despite the earlier misgivings about the way this Russian Sputnik V vaccine was rolled out more widely—ahead of sufficient Phase 3 trial data—this approach has been justified to some extent now. Putin promised a vaccine before anyone else and delivered a product with 92% efficacy and proven safety. With orders coming from all over the world, it’s clear that Sputnik V will be the vaccine of choice in developing countries, but also many other developed countries in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, where logistics is not a big problem like transporting Pfizer-BioNTech and Monderna’s vaccines. Putin showed the world that Russia can be counted on to deliver a safe-and-effective vaccine at lower costs with less logistical obstacles.
