DISINFO: Recognition of Sputnik V being delayed purely for political reasons
SUMMARY
The recognition of Sputnik V is being delayed purely for political reasons. 70 countries have approved and registered the Sputnik V vaccine, many millions of people have been vaccinated, it is effective and safe. The non-recognition by WHO raises questions, to put it mildly. This is a lot of competition, a lot of money, Sputnik V is a competitor for the same Pfizer, Sinopharm.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about a global conspiracy to prevent the success of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) started the rolling review of Sputnik V vaccine on March 4, 2021. At the beginning of September 2021, EMA stated it was still waiting for necessary additional data from Sputnik V's manufacturers before it can authorise the vaccine.
The EMA and EU leaders have publicly stated they will welcome Sputnik V if it meets the applied standards for vaccines. In fact, problems with inconsistent, problematic or missing data and lack of transparency have been regularly reported regarding Sputnik V, leading some international health regulators to consider the information yet insufficient.
WHO affirmed again on 13 October 2021 that the approval for the use of Sputnik V was still on hold pending some missing data and legal procedures, including regd. new inspections to manufacturing sites in Russia. Previously, a WHO visit to a factory in Ufa had led to the suspension of the approval of the Sputnik V after the mission identified several problems in the manufacture of the vaccine.
On 20 October 2021, WHO said it has restarted the assessment process for the Russian vaccine and that it is awaiting the “completion of the rolling submission.”
As Marcus Ederer, the EU ambassador to Russia stated:
See similar disinformation narratives about the Sputnik V vaccine, claiming that the process of recognising it is artificially delayed, that the West discredits the most effective Sputnik V and prevents mass vaccination in Russia, that Europe will "fight with feet and hands" against Sputnik V, that the West criticised the Russian vaccine because it couldn’t accept Russia’s primacy, or that WHO's reasons to paralyse the validation process of the Sputnik V are questionable.