DISINFO: Sputnik V faced a huge disinformation in Slovakia
SUMMARY
Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 became the target of massive disinformation in Slovakia. This was the result of internal political struggle but also of intense pressure from the international pharmaceutical lobby, although Sputnik V was characterised as the most secure vaccine in neighboring Hungary.
RESPONSE
This story is part of a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about vaccines and Sputnik V.
There is no "war" against Sputnik V vaccine in Slovakia. Demand for Sputnik is simply weak. In fact, the government is now looking to unload the vast majority of the 200,000 doses it purchased. The latest data, through June 23, shows that only about 8,000 people have been vaccinated with the double-dose jab, while another 14,000 are registered to receive it.
Additionally, Slovakian authorities were initially very reserved about the efficacy of Sputnik V. Slovakia’s SUKL drug agency said the batches of Sputnik V vaccines it had received differed from those reviewed by international scientists and by the European Union regulator. Reservations and criticism of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine stem from the fact that Russia did not complete large trials to test the vaccine’s safety and efficacy before releasing it. Rolling out an inadequately vetted vaccine could endanger people who receive it.
Furthermore, there is no conspiracy against Sputnik V by an imagined international pharmaceutical lobby, but reservations based on scientific data. On September 4, 2020, scientists of the Gamaleya Institute responsible for the creation of the Sputnik V published an article in the scientific publication The Lancet showing results from phases 1 and 2 trials, which was immediately touted by pro-Kremlin media as the ultimate validation of the vaccine. However, the data was denounced as flawed by a group of prominent scientists and doctors headed by Enrico Bucci, a biology professor at Temple University in the US. Bucci warned about strange patterns in the data, such as duplicate values for different groups of patients, which he considered highly improbable. Later, discussions among medical experts developed including in the leading magazine the Lancet, see article from May 12, 2021 questioning the data.
See related disinformation cases alleging that the UK launched a smear campaign against Russian vaccine; and that the West criticises the Sputnik V because it can’t accept Russia’s primacy and because its pharmaceutical companies will lose billions of dollars.