DISINFO: Western partners demand that Georgia does not buy Sputnik V
SUMMARY
It seems that the import of Russian vaccines will be banned in Georgia. Why? Russia is an enemy, we should not buy a vaccine. This is not a decision of the Georgian government, it is demanded by Western partners.
Europe and the US do not hide their concern that the Russian economy has grown as a result of the sale of vaccines and has been able to compensate for the damage caused by the sanctions imposed over the years. Any country that buys a Russian vaccine will contribute to the growth of the Russian economy, so Europe and the US are trying their best to keep the number of such countries as small as possible.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about an alleged Russophobic Western campaign against the Sputnik V vaccine which are baseless.
The allegation that Western partners make demands on Georgia not to purchase the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine is groundless. Since 31 August 2020, Georgia has been a member of the COVAX Facility, created by the United Nations and supported by the EU. It has already received its first supply of AstraZeneca vaccines through the COVAX platform.
Contrary to the claim, previous criticism and mistrust of the Sputnik V vaccine were not due to any alleged Russophobia and fear of Russian superiority but to the publication of incomplete or yet unverified data about it, surrounded by a disinformation campaign about this and other vaccines. Reservations and criticism of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine stemmed 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.
On February 2, 2021, interim results from a phase 3 trial of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine were finally published in The Lancet. The trial results show a consistent strong protective effect across all participant age groups, meaning that the Sputnik V vaccine candidate appears safe and effective. This is what led to a general change in the approach towards Sputnik V. All vaccines, authorised by the European Medicines Agency are welcome in the EU. On March 4, 2021, the European Medicines Agency started rolling review of the Sputnik V vaccine.
See other examples of similar pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Western attacks on the Russian coronavirus vaccine are a corporate cold war against humanity or Russian progress in COVID-19 vaccine has become for the West an outrageous challenge, that Sputnik V is a target of the corporate cold war; that the West wants to discredit the Sputnik V; that the WHO and Microsoft sabotaged the Russian vaccine, 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.