Disinfo: West loses race to develop COVID-19 vaccine. The Russian vaccine against COVID-19 is ready

Summary

Headline: West loses race to develop a coronavirus vaccine

Russia’s vaccine against COVID-19 is ready – the results of clinical trials showed the development of an immune response in all the volunteers involved. Though, the research centre at the Sechenov University clarified that a next phase of trials is still ahead to test the efficiency. (…) The West fears that Russia has once again managed to make what was considered impossible: to join the group of countries leading in the development of a vaccine against coronavirus.

Disproof

The claim advances recurring pro-Kremlin narratives concerning the coronavirus pandemic and Russian superiority.

There is no evidence at the moment about an existing vaccine, which would have passed large-scale efficacy trials. WHO is coordinating efforts to develop vaccines and medicines to prevent and treat COVID-19.

At the moment, more than 140 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine. The actual WHO list of the COVID-19 candidate vaccines can be found here. Most recently, scientists at the University of Oxford said their experimental COVID-19 vaccine was able to produce a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55.

See further debunking of the same claim here.

The Global Coronavirus Response pledging campaign raised €9.8 billion by the end of May 2020. In June, the European Commission has presented a European strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing and deployment of vaccines against COVID-19.

Go to search

publication/media

ria.ru

Reported in: Issue 206
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 21/07/2020
Language/target audience: Russian
Country: Russia
Keywords: coronavirus, The West

Dutch “justice” is totally corrupt, as shown by the MH17 trial

The judge on the trial in The Netherlands of the downing of MH17 flight ruled out allowing Russia to present any evidence that would prove its innocence. Judge Hendrik Steenhuis refused to allow Russia’s military intelligence to reveal the location of the Buk missile [that allegedly shot down the plane] between 1987 and July 2014. Dutch prosecutor says that the missile was shot by the Russian government, not by the Ukrainian government; that it was made in Russia in 1986, belonged to Russia, and had been there since, and the Dutch judge rejected any Russian evidence on the contrary.

When the Ukrainian government authorised Dutch authorities to investigate the downing of the MH17 flight, they signed a secret agreement that included a clause allowing Ukraine to block and prevent any finding that may implicate them. The Government of The Netherlands violates its own Freedom of Information law by refusing to make the agreement public.

July 24, 2020

Disproof

Recurrent disinformation narrative about the trial on the downing of the MH17 flight over Eastern Ukraine, aiming to discredit the judicial process and maintain the pretence of Russia’s innocence and of an international set up against it. This article is consistent with Russia’s defense strategy based in requesting that the court revises every long-debunked claim -in this case, that the Buk missile involved in the downing was sent to Ukraine in 1986 during the Soviet period and remained there, despite evidences on the contrary-, in order to be able to assert that “not every stone was turned” in the investigation.

The claim that the Ukrainian and Dutch governments signed a secret agreement with a clause preventing any investigation of Ukraine’s implication is a conspiracy theory not backed by any evidence.

The US military is testing bacteriological weapons on Ukrainians

The US military is suspected of illegally testing bacteriological weapons on Ukrainians. In 2009, there was an outbreak of hemorrhagic pneumonia. In 2011, an outbreak of cholera. In January 2016, there was an outbreak of influenza. In 2017, a massive outbreak of cases of hepatitis A and measles.

July 24, 2020

Disproof

The Ukrainian Security Service urged people not to spread fake news about the alleged presence of American military biological laboratories on the territory of Ukraine. The US Embassy in Ukraine has repeatedly denied the "creation of military biological laboratories" in Ukraine.

Viral pneumonia and other infectious diseases are not the result of the joint research work of the USA and Ukraine. Viral pneumonia and the aggressive H1N1 influenza strain that triggered a worldwide epidemic in 2009 affected not only Ukrainians: once every few years, worldwide outbreaks of infectious diseases are recorded, as viruses can mutate. Cholera is a severe intestinal infection that usually occurs in contaminated waters, which is what triggered several cases of cholera outbreaks in Ukraine. Outbreaks of cholera are constantly recorded in different parts of the world and have nothing to do with the activities of “biological laboratories”, as well as outbreaks of measles or hepatitis, which can be prevented by standard immunisation. At the end of 2019, Ukraine entered the top five countries with the highest incidence of measles. Specialists from the World Health Organisation concluded that measles quickly spread to countries like Ukraine due to the systematic omission of vaccination of local children.

SBU should check the activities of secret biological laboratories in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) should open a criminal case over the fact that the Americans illegally tested bacteriological weapons on Ukrainians. American bacteriological laboratories in Ukraine were supervised by senior officials of both states.

July 24, 2020

Disproof

Conspiracy theory about "secret" biological weapons.

Back in May, the Ukrainian Security Service urged people not to spread fake news about the alleged presence of American military biological laboratories in Ukraine. "Usually, the Security Service of Ukraine, which is fighting real, and not fake, threats to the country, does not react to comment on such rumours ... But against the background of the fight against coronavirus, the SBU considers it appropriate to respond to this...There are no foreign biological laboratories operating on the territory of Ukraine. The statements made recently by certain politicians do not correspond to reality and are a deliberate distortion of facts," the SBU said.