MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. The process of promoting Russian coronavirus shots abroad is facing a politicized backlash, and Russia views it very negatively, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
The Russian presidential spokesman thus commented on the claims by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas that Russia and China were ‘politicizing’ the issue of the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.
Russia categorically rejects Berlin’s accusations, Peskov stressed. "We have repeatedly stated that we were categorically against politicizing anything that is related to the vaccines. We categorically disagree with this assertion," the Russian presidential spokesman said in response to the corresponding question.
"As for us, we are not engaged in any sort of politicizing. We believe that, on the contrary, the process of promoting our vaccines is, unfortunately, being frequently confronted with a politicized approach, and we view it very negatively," the Kremlin spokesman said.
Russian coronavirus vaccines
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 67 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.