WASHINGTON, August 7. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov slammed as ungrounded accusations against Russia regarding its alleged attempts to undermine anti-COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in a number of countries.
The Russian diplomat said that recent reports in the US media on this issue could be explained by "rooted Russophobic sentiments in the American society."
Antonov was asked by journalists to comment on certain US media reports about Russia’s alleged attempts to persuade Americans against receiving anti-COVID-19 jabs. "Such slur has nothing to do with reality," Antonov was quoted as saying on the FaceBook account of the Russian Embassy to the United States. "Russia has been always standing for the development of the broad international cooperation in the fight against this infection."
"If speaking about ungrounded accusations in regard to our alleged attempts to undermine the vaccination campaigns in a number of countries, we can explain it only by strong Russophobic sentiments in the American society," the Russian ambassador continued.
"We still hope that US reporters will finally realize that the prime task of the journalism is to give their audience verified information instead of circulating gossips and fibs," Antonov said.
"Joint efforts are necessary under the pandemic circumstances in order to broaden the scale of the immunization," he continued. "We must jointly solve the issue of accessibility and fair distribution of means for protection and prevention against the novel coronavirus infection."
"Our country is ready for such collaboration with all partners, including the United States," Antonov added.
Today, four coronavirus vaccines have been registered in Russia, namely Sputnik V and Sputnik Light developed by the Russian Health Ministry’s Gamaleya Center, EpiVacCorona developed by the sanitary watchdog’s Vector Center, and CoviVac developed by the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Chumakov Center. Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, and CoviVac are two-dose shots, while Sputnik Light is a one-dose version of Sputnik V.
To date, Sputnik V has been registered in over 65 countries covering a total population of over 3.5 billion people. Data from regulators in a number of nations, including Argentina, Serbia, Bahrain, Hungary, Mexico and other countries, obtained during the inoculation of the population, show that Sputnik V is one of the safest and most effective vaccines against the novel coronavirus.
On March 4, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) reported that it began the rolling review of the jab. However, the certification of the Russian vaccine has not yet been approved by the EMA.