DISINFO: There are double standards when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines
SUMMARY
If the same problem we can now see with AstraZeneca happened with the Russian Sputnik V, the media would focus on it the whole day, every day. They do not want to give the Russian vaccine the exception, but they gave it to AstraZeneca.
This is what happens when politics, propaganda, and business get in the way of medicine and safety.
RESPONSE
The claim is unfounded. Media in Czechia and elsewhere did focus on the uncertainties concerning the AstraZeneca vaccine. Many articles about the vaccine and its problems were published world wide by practically all major news outlets, incl. in the Czech republic – like ČT24, Aktuálně.cz or Novinky.cz.
AstraZeneca did not receive any special treatment from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) either. It was authorised for use in the EU after it had undergone a rolling review by the agency, however, when a possible link between AstraZeneca and rare blood clots was confirmed, EMA communicated it clearly on its website.
The reason the Russian Sputnik V vaccine has not been authorised yet is that it submitted its application for a rolling review only in March 2021. The evaluation can take up to 150 working days, but busy work is in progress.
AstraZeneca’s rolling review started in October 2020 and the vaccine was authorised in late January 2021.
Regarding the general approach to Sputnik V, the head of the EMA, Emer Cooke, on 23 March 2021 said she hoped the Sputnik V vaccine would receive approval, and that the agency would visit Russia to find out more about production [as part of the rolling review]: "We do hope that this will be a valuable vaccine to add to the vaccines that were available to the European population." This was reported by diverse press outlets like Deutsche Welle,
Read more disinformation cases targeting anti-COVID-19 vaccines here.