As has occurred since the beginning of the epidemic, since Russia’s announcement of the first vaccine against the new coronavirus, two ways of viewing reality are competing in the world.
On one side, countries like Cuba, China and Russia promote a multilateral approach and solidarity, while the United States and its closest allies opt for fierce competition and zero solidarity.
The Russian announcement immediately produced a variety of responses. On the one hand, the corporate media in the West failed to even cover the news, while some Western governments unleashed diatribes and expressed disbelief that Russia could produce a vaccine of the required quality.
Russian Health Minister Mijaíl Murashko stated that criticism by his international colleagues was “unfounded.”
For his part, Alexandr Guintsburg, director of the Gamaleya Epidemiology and Microbiology Center, headquartered in Moscow, reported that the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed that the technology used in developing the vaccine “was tested under all possible conditions and has been the subject of professional publications and debates.”
Moreover, other pharmaceuticals produced with the technology were used to provide protection from the Ebola virus in Africa.
The Trump administration has attempted to minimize the accomplishment of Russian science, maintaining his confidence in the “miraculous” qualities of his own candidate vaccine.
This is not the first time Russia has faced a lack of international confidence in its scientific leadership, when politics stand in the way of advances in this arena.
