Russia gains edge as Sputnik V now a favourite in fight against Covid-19

MOSCOW • Countries are lining up for supplies of Sputnik V after peer-reviewed results published in The Lancet medical journal last week showed that the Russian vaccine protects against the deadly virus about as well as the United States and European shots, and far more effectively than Chinese rivals.

At least 19 countries have approved the inoculation for use, including European Union member state Hungary, while key markets such as Brazil and India are close to authorising it.

Now, Russia is setting its sights on the prized EU market as the bloc struggles with its vaccination programme amid supply shortages.

In the global battle to defeat a pandemic that has claimed 2.3 million lives in little more than a year, the race to obtain vaccines has assumed geopolitical significance as governments seek to emerge from the huge social and economic damage caused by lockdowns imposed to limit the spread of the virus.

That has given Russia an edge as one of a handful of countries where scientists have produced an effective defence. Results from the late-stage trials of 20,000 participants reviewed in The Lancet showed that the vaccine has a 91.6 per cent success rate.

While it is too early to gauge the political gains for President Vladimir Putin, Russia is already making much of the soft-power impact of the vaccine on its image after years of international condemnation over election meddling and targeting of political opponents at home and abroad. State television reports extensively on deliveries to other nations.

Russia began output last year and the vaccine is currently being manufactured in countries such as India, South Korea and Brazil.

JOHNSON & JOHNSON (J&J)

Drug firm J&J has asked United States regulators to authorise its vaccine, which requires only one dose and can be stored at normal refrigeration temperatures - unlike some of the other jabs currently in use.

The firm said it is on track to supply 100 million doses to the US if authorised.

But trials have shown that the J&J shot is not as effective against the highly transmissible variant first identified in South Africa that is rapidly spreading around the world.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is finally arriving in European Union countries as the bloc tries to speed up its inoculation campaign and put a crisis-ridden period behind it.

France began using it yesterday, with priority for healthcare workers. Germany, Ireland, Spain and Austria will also start offering the shot, while Portugal will receive deliveries early this week.

PFIZER-BIONTECH

Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said yesterday that Pfizer has applied for full regulatory approval for its vaccine developed with BioNTech.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG

The day after announcing he had contracted Covid-19, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Jan 25 said he had thanked a "genuinely affectionate" Mr Putin for pledging 24 million doses of Sputnik V in the coming two months.

Three days later, Bolivian President Luis Arce personally took delivery of a batch at La Paz airport.

Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Sputnik V can be stored in a fridge rather than a freezer, making it easier to transport and distribute in poorer and hotter countries. At around US$20 (S$26.70) for a two-shot vaccination, it is also cheaper than most Western alternatives.

While Russia says it expects the vaccine to be available to 700 million people this year, it is facing production bottlenecks.

"We have to be realistic. Given our other commitments, we will not be able to supply to Europe before May, other than Hungary," said Mr Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund, which is in charge of Sputnik V's international roll-out.

Still, the vaccine is paying dividends for Mr Putin. Even as he visited Moscow on Friday to confront Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell took time to congratulate Russia on developing Sputnik V.

"It's good news for the whole of mankind," Mr Borrell said. "It means that we are going to have more tools to face the pandemic."

BLOOMBERG