On February 23 this year, Vladimir Putin gave orders to his troops to invade Ukraine. The decision has sabotaged the vaccine aspirations of the Sputnik V corona vaccine, the first vaccine approved by any country.
The manufacturing of the first covid vaccine has already been stopped. Moreover, the last step of international approval of the vaccine has also been delayed indefinitely. The World Health Organization’s team was supposed to visit the manufacturing centers on March 7, but the visit was delayed because of the ongoing war, as reported by the Washington Post.
The Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the vaccine developer, and its partner, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), were set to hit the vaccine market, but the war changed their course. Now, this void is being filled by other manufacturers.
Many experts suggest a huge hit for the Russian soft power. The vaccine was developed within the first 6 months of the pandemic. Russia hoped to spread its vaccine diplomacy to maximum nations. Moreover, the name was also quite strategic. It was named after its first artificial satellite.
The vaccine was approved by more than 71 countries with a population of 4 billion. The latest jab of the vaccine, Sputnik Light, was approved in more than 30 countries, as per the data by Sputnik.
But, according to a World Trade Organization report, Gamaleya and RDIF developed vaccines sold in fewer than 300 million doses. Moreover, only 2.5 percent of the world population got the Sputnik jab.
Sputnik’s vacuum is expected to be filled by western competitors like Pfizer and Moderna. Both the vaccine manufacturers are working on their next clinical trials on updated vaccines. Moreover, recently the World Health Organization gave permission to a new vaccine by Novavax, the Washington Post reports.
As far as Russia itself is concerned, Sputnik was the sole vaccine option for the people. Despite that, only half of the citizens are fully vaccinated. Experts think this is because the promotion campaign was rest on the state and not healthcare experts and scientists. But many surveys showed a lack of trust among people for the vaccine.
