Debate in the European Union: between restrictions on the AstraZeneca vaccine and mistrust in approving Sputnik V

After German authorities identified 31 cases of blood clots known as cerebral sinus venous thrombosis in people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine, France and Germany were negotiating Tuesday evening with Vladimir Putin to supply the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to the European Union.

Before the last European Council on March 25, largely dedicated to the fight against COVID-19, the Moscow government had already sent a message. “The Russians could deliver 50 million doses of Sputnik V to Europe within six to eight months, if they can produce 25 million on European soil,” revealed an official in Brussels.

However, So far, the European Commission has not entered into negotiations with the Kremlin laboratory to conclude a purchase contract, as it has done with six others (Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, CureVac and Johnson & Johnson) and as it is already doing with two others, Valneva and Novavax.

The acceleration of European negotiations is taking place, as several countries, among which Germany and Austria stand out, are pushing in this direction. In particular, Angela Merkel’s government exerted particular pressure after the 31 cases of thrombosis linked to the development of AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, the majority were women and nine had resulted in death.

Merkel and Macron spoke with Putin

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel they had a video call with the russian president to discuss “cooperation” on vaccines, which would see the use of Russian Sputnik development in the EU once it is approved by regulators.

The possibility of Gamaleya Institute manufacturing cooperation comes days after French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian criticized Russia for using its vaccine as a “Propaganda tool”.

“In terms of its operation, it is more a means of propaganda and aggressive diplomacy than a means of solidarity and health aid,” Le Drian said in an interview on Friday.

Responding to the accusations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quick to dismiss his comments. “We strongly disagree that Russia and China are using the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines as tools of influence.”

Last Friday, The German government has said it would be willing to use the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine once it has been approved by the European Medicines Agency.

“No geopolitical blinders”

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is also negotiating with Russia the possibility of receiving the “coup” Sputnik V. Contacts between Austria and Russia deserved the comments of the Austrian leader who remarked that “he should not there are geopolitical blinders when it comes to vaccines. The only thing that matters is whether the vaccine is effective and safe, not where it came from. “

The Alpine country wants to obtain a million doses of Sputnik V, of which 300,000 are managed by next April. Kurz, who knows the lack of approval from the European regulator, argued that “additional doses would allow a faster return to normalcy and so many lives and jobs could be saved.”

Contacts between the Russians and the Austrians have been taking place since the end of February. Since then, the country has been negotiating with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for the international marketing of Sputnik V.

Political prudence

In France, from the Elysee Palace, it is indicated that the government does not feed the “denigration” of the Sputnik V development: “We are not making politics with the Russian vaccine”, whose effectiveness has been documented in the scientific journal The Lancet. However, Thierry Breton’s comment is justified by the fact that the European Union (EU) has a portfolio of approved vaccines and that the priority, at the moment, is to speed up their production. They also know that The doses of Sputnik V produced on community soil would not be available before 2022.

Italy, which was identified at one point as a possible country for its production, does not have an official process in the process of acquiring doses of Sputnik V. However, some regions have already expressed interest, despite the certain lack of government interest in Rome.

The Russian government and the Italian-Swiss company Adienne Pharma & Biotech have signed an agreement to produce the vaccine at the Caponago site (province of Lombardy, Monza and Brianza), for the summer of 2021. A decision that has been called into question since Italo-Russian Chamber of Commerce, has traditionally been very interested in bringing Rome and Moscow closer together. If approval is not obtained from the European Medicines Agency, the Sputnik V produced on Italian soil would be purchased by the Russian fund to then be exported or imported directly for its administration in Russia.

From Germany, various politicians have spoken in favor of Russian serum, mainly in the “new Länder” in the east, to use the expression which is still used today to refer to the part of the country which was previously located in Germany. Democratic Republic. Recently, the Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) said: “We have no problem with Sputnik V. As a child, I myself was vaccinated against polio with a Russian vaccine. I am ready to be vaccinated with Sputnik V. “

A survey carried out at the end of February revealed that 59% of the inhabitants of the Länder of the East were ready to be vaccinated with Sputnik V, against 49% of those of the West.

Hungary differs

Until now, Hungary remains, officially, the only country in the bloc to use Sputnik V, without waiting for the approval of the European regulator. In this sense, the “continuous review” of the vaccine by the European Agency began with a delay, on March 4. According to European sources, there are still difficulties because the Russian side, which took a long time to activate it, does not always provide the necessary data on time.

However, under an emergency procedure to dispense with the opinion of the community, 550,000 doses have already been administered in the country, out of the 2 million ordered by the Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, for around 20 millions of dollars.

Hungary leads the European vaccination ranking, with 21.6% of its population having received at least one dose, although this comprehensive policy has not yet had an impact on mortality. In the country that records about 200 deaths per day.

A vaccine that is not produced

The production capacity problems weigh on the Russian vaccine. There is even the skepticism of Russian citizens, of whom only 30% say they want to apply national development.

Vladimir Putin, who said he was vaccinated on March 23, could have helped reduce this mistrust, while 6.8 million Russians received at least one of the two necessary injections, or 4.65% of the population.

Despite the mistrust among his own, the Kremlin refused to disclose the image or even to specify which vaccine the Russian president had used.

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