Permanent Representative of Russia to the EU Vladimir Chizhov spoke about the West’s “enlightenment” regarding the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. He is quoted by RIA Novosti.
“We watched with interest how the attitude towards the Russian drug in the European Union changed, which for several months, that is, almost from the moment of its appearance, was perceived with undisguised suspicion, if not hostility,” he said. Chizhov added that now this has been replaced by talk that Sputnik V is Russia’s greatest scientific achievement.
According to the diplomat, the EU countries have realized that Western vaccines do not guarantee success. He recalled that the European Commission “paid in advance” more than 2.7 billion euros for vaccines that have not even been delivered in full. Chizhov stressed that in the context of a pandemic, international cooperation should be established and not competed.
The EU has already faced problems in the supply of vaccines for the coronavirus. So, on January 15, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced its decision to reduce the supply of the drug to European countries while modernizing its production. Then on January 23, the Bild newspaper reported that AstraZeneca would not be able to deliver the expected number of doses of its vaccine to European countries. One of the reasons for the disruption to supplies is a fire at a vaccine plant under construction in the Indian city of Pune.
Vaccination in the European Union started on December 27. The first approved vaccine was Pfizer / BioNTech, followed by Moderna and AstraZeneca. At the end of January, Russia applied to register Sputnik V.