Member of the German Bundestag Bystron: “Sputnik V” is not recognized in Europe because of politics and economics
Photo: Pavel Lisitsyn / RIA Novosti
Member of the German Bundestag Committee on International Affairs from Alternative for Germany, Peter Bystron, in an interview with Izvestia, named the reason for the non-recognition by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
According to the politician, the regulator does not allow the use of the Russian vaccine in the European Union (EU) for political and economic reasons. Bystron explained that the Agency protects the market so that large Western pharmaceutical companies can sell their drugs without competition, and also to prevent the inflow of foreign currency into Russia.
If the EMA evaluated vaccines purely from a medical point of view, Sputnik V would have been approved in the EU long ago.
Piotr BystronMember of the German Bundestag
The main stage of recognition
On January 11, it became known that EMA experts gave a positive opinion on the recognition of the production standards of the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V. The conclusion also concerns the conduct of clinical trials of the vaccine.
As the deputy head of the Gamaleya Center Denis Logunov noted, the Agency had no critical remarks regarding the conduct of clinical trials. He added that production standards in Europe, China and Russia should be harmonized, stressing that work is underway in this direction.
Russian virologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vitaly Zverev, in an interview with Lenta.ru, said that in this way the Russian vaccine has passed the main stage for full recognition in Europe, after which “only formalities will remain.” “Now there are no serious obstacles to the recognition of our vaccine,” he concluded.
WHO approval
At the end of December 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed by phone with the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus the issue of registering Sputnik V. On January 2, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said that Moscow sees some encouraging signals in the issue of recognition of the drug by WHO. However, he believes, such signals are primarily intended simply to reassure Russia.
In the WHO itself, the delay in the recognition of Sputnik V was explained by a “check of technological processes”. According to Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the organization, in order to include a vaccine in the registry of funds for use in emergency situations, WHO requests data on the safety and efficacy of the drug, as well as documentation on production technology.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking in December about the process of registering Sputnik V with the WHO, said that Moscow did not provide the organization with some of the information due to discrepancies in the standards.
Work continues there, there really is some information that needs to be provided for certification, we have not yet provided
Dmitry PeskovPress Secretary of the Kremlin
According to Peskov, the issue of WHO recognition of Sputnik V will be resolved in the coming months. According to him, after that, European countries should approve the Russian drug.
Successes of Sputnik V
Dmitry Peskov also noted that the promotion of Sputnik V in 71 countries is a huge success for the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). According to the presidential spokesman, the vaccine market is a very aggressive and highly competitive market. Manufacturers have to compete with global companies whose budget is comparable to the budget of most countries in the world. Peskov cited Pfizer and AstraZeneca as an example and said that these companies are not always friendly to other market participants.
At the same time, the head of the Gamaleya Center, Alexander Gintsburg, noted that Sputnik V is better than others in resisting the variability and mutations of the coronavirus. The head of the RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev, noted that Sputnik V and Sputnik Light are effective against the omicron strain. He added that next week, scientists will talk more about data from studies on the effectiveness of vaccines against a new strain.
President Vladimir Putin also spoke about the fact that the Russian vaccine can work against the omicron strain better than other drugs used in the world. He also warned that new outbreaks of coronavirus infection are possible in the country.
In addition, the head of state at the annual big press conference in December announced the need for mutual recognition of vaccines. Putin pointed out that victory over the COVID-19 pandemic is impossible without the recognition of vaccines by the world's leading countries.
omicron wave
According to Rospotrebnadzor, 698 cases of omicron infection have now been confirmed in Russia, with most of the foci identified in the Moscow region. Despite this, the supervisory authority does not exclude the possibility of the spread of a new strain according to the European scenario. According to doctors, in this case, the number of infections could rise to six-digit numbers. The Russian regions have already begun preparations for the large-scale spread of the omicron strain of coronavirus in the country.
Infectious disease doctor Andrei Pozdnyakov urged Russians to have time to be vaccinated against coronavirus infection before the peak of a new wave of the pandemic. According to him, despite the fact that the omicron strain well avoids antibody protection, it is transmitted by vaccinated people like a common respiratory infection that does not require hospitalization. At the same time, immunologist Nikolai Kryuchkov predicted that a new wave of coronavirus incidence in Russia, with the widespread distribution of the omicron strain, would be heavier than the delta.
Vladimir Chulanov, a freelance infectious disease specialist at the Ministry of Health, called those who refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 a springboard for the evolution of coronavirus. The doctor explained that it is for this reason that in a population where a large number of unvaccinated people remain, the virus has a better chance of evolution and more advantages.
Vaccination, effective antivirals and anti-epidemic measures are the main contribution to the future: will there be a dozen new strains or will the pandemic end in omicron
Vladimir ChulanovExternal infectious disease specialist of the Ministry of Health
