Russia has big problems with extradition

Caracas Esperita García de Perez received her first corona vaccination with the Russian drug Sputnik V in May. That, along with her Catholic faith, made the Venezuelan feel better protected against the virus, especially after the second dose, which she was to receive a few weeks later. But the 88-year-old is still waiting for this injection, contracted the virus in September and her hope for survival is now focused on various medicines and the nursing care that she receives at home.

Millions of people in developing countries from Latin America to the Middle East are also waiting for more Sputnik cans whose delivery has been delayed due to manufacturing problems, among other things. One company estimates that Russia has so far only exported 4.8 percent of the approximately one billion cans promised.

Venezuela intended Sputnik for residents aged 50 and over and ordered ten million cans in December 2020, but received fewer than four million. Argentina, which was the first country to use the Russian fabric in the Western Hemisphere, received its first shipment in late December 2020 but is still waiting for many of the 20 million cans it has bought.

For García de Perez, the past few months have been full of tension, once it was said that the vaccine would come, then again that it would not come, she says, adding: “You want to be sure and hope that the thing will arrive.”

The vaccine was launched in August 2020 and proudly named after the world’s first satellite to symbolize Russia’s scientific prowess. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have not yet approved the use of Sputnik V, but it is approved in around 70 countries.

Moscow marketed the drug aggressively after it became clear that wealthy nations were keeping supplies of vaccines developed in the West for themselves. In the spring, Russian state media triumphantly talked about how the vaccine is “conquering the world”.

Missed place as “savior” of the pandemic

But the opportunity to present yourself “really as a savior” in the pandemic has been missed, says Judy Twigg, a global health professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. Unlike other Covid-19 vaccines, Sputnik’s first and second injections are different, cannot be interchanged, and there have been repeated reports of manufacturing problems, particularly with the second dose.

On the one hand, experts attribute this to limited production capacities, but they also point out the complicated procedure. Sputnik is a vector vaccine. A weakened virus that is harmless to humans is used as a means of transport (vector) for a – harmless – part of the genetic information of the corona virus. This information is read from the body, so to speak, and an immune response is triggered. Working with organic ingredients involves a number of variables that can affect the quality of the end product.

The data analysis company Airfinity estimates that 62 countries have made agreements with Russia for the supply of around one billion Sputnik cans, of which only 48 million have so far reached them. It is not clear whether delivery of the quantities ordered has been agreed this year or over a longer period of time.

The Russian state fund RDIF (Russian Direct Investment Fund), which finances the vaccines and markets them abroad, has concluded production contracts with 25 factories in 14 countries. According to the facility, Russia is “fully in line” with delivery agreements, “including the second dose, following a successful production acceleration in August and September”. All supply issues are “completely resolved,” said RDIF top manager Kirill Dmitrijew of the AP news agency. Incidentally, there is “no vaccine manufacturer in the world who has not had delivery problems”.

Delay increases pressure

In Argentina, delays in Sputnik deliveries and a sharp increase in Covid infections in March have put public pressure on the government to accelerate negotiations with other pharmaceutical companies.

An initial agreement with Russia included 20 million cans, of which 14.2 million had arrived by Tuesday. Another contract was later concluded for the production of the vaccine in an Argentine laboratory, with the active components being supplied from Russia. To date, the laboratory has produced 1.2 million first and approximately 3.6 million second doses.

Iran, which was badly hit by Corona, had apparently been promised 60 million Sputnik cans by November in the spring, but so far it has had to be content with just 1.3 million. Recent information from the Iranian Ministry of Health suggests that there is a lack of second doses in particular.

Turkey appears to be plagued by a similar problem. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in August that his country had not been able to use Sputnik at all because no second doses were available.

Russia has gambled away its chance, says Twigg, the professor. “In some cases, for example in Iran, Guatemala, Argentina and possibly Mexico, Russia’s standing is perhaps a little worse now than it would have been if it had not done anything at all, or if it waited and made promises that were easier to fulfill right from the start would have done. ”Now people are simply disappointed.

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