DISINFO: Sputnik V is effective against the new strain but Europe refuses to buy it for political reasons
SUMMARY
It is unclear whether it [the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine] will be effective against all the new strains. BioNTech has no such evidence yet.
The effectiveness of Sputnik V against the new strain has been proven. But Europe refuses to buy it for political reasons.
RESPONSE
The claim advances a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Russian-made coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V; casting Russia as the spearhead of the global race to develop effective treatment for COVID-19. This is a part of a campaign aiming to promote the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
The claim that the West, in particular, Europe, refuses to buy the Russian Sputnik V vaccine for political reasons is unfounded. If the Russian developer wished to place their vaccine on the EU market it would have to approach the European Medicines Agency (EMA) with a request for a rolling review or a marketing authorization application, just as any other vaccine developer. So far (as of 12/01/2012) the EMA has not received an application for the sales of Sputnik V on the European market.
The EMA has already issued a conditional marketing authorization for BioNTech and Pfizer vaccine.
The related disinformation claims alleging that the West is fighting a Russian vaccine, not a virus; that Western attacks on the Russian coronavirus vaccine are a corporate cold war against humanity; that 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.