DISINFO: Russia is better than Europe at vaccines and protecting civil rights during the pandemic
SUMMARY
Brussels says there are no civil liberties in Russia, but Europe itself has restricted basic freedoms. The situation of civil liberties in Russia is much better than in COVID-seized Europe. People in Russia are vaccinating by free will, in support of the public interest. Europe is forcing people to do it. Russia is producing effective vaccines. By the way, it is not clear if Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are as effective as Sputnik V.
RESPONSE
This narrative includes disinformation about restriction measures in Europe due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes a message about the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.
Oxford COVID-19 government response stringency index shows that response to the pandemic in Russia is quite similar to Europe. There are also differences between European countries: in some EU countries stricter measures are implemented (Germany, France) and in some softer measures are in place (Portugal, Poland, Baltic states) compared to Russia.
The EU also shows better vaccination results than Russia. According to the statistics as of 21 January 2022, in Russian society 48.1 per cent of people was fully vaccinated, while the EU counts 70.7 fully vaccinated citizens.
There is no objective data that shows that Sputnik V is a better vaccine than Western analogies. As of January 2022, Sputnik V was still not approved by World Health Organisation and European Medicines Agency.
See similar cases of disinformation about coronavirus and vaccines: COVID-19 pandemic serves the agenda of authoritarian control over democratic countries; EU does not care about its citizens since it delays approval of Sputnik V for political reasons; Sputnik V will neutralise the Omicron variant without needing a modification.
See our Special Reports about COVID-19 and vaccines disinformation and manipulation here.