Russian President Vladimir Putin, 68, gave 78-year-old President Joe Biden a lesson in global diplomacy, sharing with the world his 92% successful Sputnik V vaccine. For many poor countries around the globe clamoring for improved health, it was welcomed news when Putin announced Nov. 11, 2020 the first novel coronavirus AKA SARS CoV-2 or Covid-19 vaccine, one month before Pfizer-BioNTech received Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA]. At the time, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] dismissed the Russian vaccine because of its lack of Phase 3 data. When the British Medical Journal Lancet finished its review of Sputnik V Feb. 2, it gave it 92% efficacy with a good safety protocol. Suddenly, Sputnik V rocketed up in credibility, with developing and developed countries scrambling to place orders.
However tight Russian’s Gamaleya Pharmaceuticals are with supplies, they’re currently running 24/7 to meet growing global demand. “The Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, is the best in the world,” said Dmitry Kiselev, Russia-1 TV channel anchor Nov. 11, 2020. Hard hit Slovakia got 200,000 doses March 1, despite not having approval from the European Medicine Agency. Slovakia President Zuzana Caputova expressed gratitude to Putin. With the European Union slow on supplying its 28-members, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have placed orders for Russia’s Sputnik V, now that it’s received Lancet approval. “Sputnik V continues to conquer Europe,” Russia-1 anchor Olga Skatebeyeva, creating problems for other vaccine makers, espeically AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine that was recently rejected by German Chancellor Angela Merekel, preferring Pfizer-BioNTech.
When you consider the EU and U.S. just sanctioned the Kremlin for its treatment of 44-year-old Russian dissident Alexi Navalny, it shows how tone-deaf to more pressing global priorities. Since when does an anti-Putin dissident have so much credibility with the EU and U.S.? Navalny, who’s serving out a two-year-eight-moth prison sentence, is not a factor in global affairs. Yet with more problems in Southeastern Ukraine, you’d think the EU and U.S. would want to have Putin on their side. Sanctioning Putin has created real foreign policy challenges for the EU and U.S., acting like they can go it alone in geopolitics without Putin. Sputnik V’s popularity in Europe, Africa, Caribbean islands, Mexico, Central and South America has made Putin more popular than ever, despite recent EU and U.S. sanctions. Dealing with the global coronavirus pandemic was far more important than Navalny.
China’s Sinovac has already supplied the gaps in Asia and India where vaccine scarcity makes its more valuable. Russia’s Sputnik V is half the price of Pfizer-BioNTech, Monderna or AstroZeneca’s vaccines, selling wholesale for about $10 a dose. “The fact that Russia is among five countries that were able to quickly develop a vaccine . . . .allows Moscow to present itself as a high-tech power of knowledge rather that a a petrol pump in decline,” said Vladimir Frotov, a foreign a global affairs analyst. “Putin is using [the vaccine] to bolster a very tarnished image of Russia’s scientific and technological prowess,” said Lawrence Gostin, Georgetown University professor and World Health Organization [WHO] Center on National and Global Health Law. “He’s using it for geostrategic purposes in areas where Russia would like to have spheres of influence,” said Gostin.
Whatever added global clout Putin gets from Sputnik V, it’s well-deserved, since the world suffers with 117,459,698 cases and 2,605,737 deaths from Covid-19. “They [Russia] succeeded beyond their wildest dreams in terms of this vaccine activity being a viable, marketable product,” said Judy Twigg, Virginia Commonwealth political science professor. Putin has only vaccinated about 4 million Russians or 3% of its population, preferring to ship vaccines to countries around the world. Recent Russian polls show that some 60% of the public are skeptical of receiving Sputnik V vaccine. Whether that changes in the not too distant future is anyone’s guess. Putin has orders from all over the globe that he’s having trouble filling orders. London-based analytics company estimates that Russia agreed to export 392 million doses to over 50 nations, already receiving orders totaling 2.4 billion doses.
However far Russia’s Gamaleya Pharmaceutical lags behind in Sputnik V orders, the fact remains that Russia has 2.4 billion orders at half the price of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Given pent-up worldwide demand, Putin’s well-positioned to be the world’s leading Covid-19 producer. Countries like India and Brazil have placed whopping orders, creating manufacturing and supply-chain issues for Gamaleya Pharmaceuticals. Watching the U.S. and EU wreck Kremlin relations at a time of global pandemic shows bereft foreign policy leadership. U.S. and EU officials should treat Putin as an influential global leader, especially now when battling the deadly global Covid-19 pandemic. Picking a fight over a Russian internal affairs, shows the worst kind of leadership. Finding ways to cooperate on a global pandemic should be everyone’s priority.
