The Kremlin said this morning ‘there is a major information war against their vaccine’; frankly, looking at yesterday’s and today’s Western press, it seems they are right.
Much criticism has been leveled at the Kremlin over its alleged short cuts when developing this medication, like launching the vaccine prior to phase III trials and not publishing information at the time of registration. These seem like valid criticisms.
However, why the massive pushback in the Western media over this vaccine development? Could it be that Big Pharma sees its profits at risk due to Moscow’s impertinence?
We have already seen how the media and even the U.S. government has waged a nasty information war against hydroxychloroquine, that pesky little fifty-cent pill that threatens the $3,200 treatments of Remdesivir, Fauci’s horse in this race. If the corrupt pharma/big government cabal can do that to a drug that has been deemed safe and effective since early last century, they can easily do it to an upstart vaccine that threatens their hundreds of billions in profits from a potential vaccine in the West.
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks” to quote Shakespear.
“Some foreign colleagues, who must have felt certain competition and competitive edges of Russia’s product, have been trying to express opinions that we find totally groundless,” said Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, reported Russian state news agency TASS.
The absence of love is to ignore; in this case, the corporate media complex is all-in against the Russian vaccine. They certainly are not ignoring its launch.
Whether Russia rushed development, and whether their product is safe or not, shouldn’t the market deal with this problem? Not corporate media shilling for their clients?
If the Russian product was that inferior, wouldn’t Big Pharma just ignore?
Only time will tell the truth here, but again, the propaganda is very interesting.
- Debbie Aldrich With Todd Bensman Discussing COVID-Infected Border Crossings Filling Hospitals
- The Black New Deal: 1) Abolish Welfare 2) Incentivize The Nuclear Family
11 comments
A friend of mine’s brother is a virologist with the CDC.
The vaccines tested to-date create antibodies just like the real virus would do, but they only offer protection for 20 to 30 days before weakening too much to be effective.
The only way to make the vaccine work is to vaccinate 70% or more of a country within 20 to 30 days. Russia might be able to pull this off with an authoritarian roll-out, but then they’d have to seal their borders until the virus dies out which is impossible from a practical sense.
COVID-19 is going to have to burn itself out over time. Properly designed and worn masks are effective indoors or outdoors in crowded conditions,, as they nearly eliminate the virus-carrying aerosols that are emitted from the nose and mouth. They don’t need to filter out the virus itself, just the droplet carrying the virus.
@Steve
My wife is an MD with, additionally, a doctorate in microbiology. She has pointed out that the resistance developed by the body in response to vaccination does not consist solely of antibodies. As I understand it there are other potent factors and possibilities that could impact the timeline. All in all, your friend’s brother’s projections seem over hasty.
I agree with the article, which is really about eliminating the competition. Everyone said there would be a race to develop the vaccine, but shortcuts couldn’t be taken, but the Russians developed their vaccine with concurrent testing and deployment, and possibly there
Is some additional risk in the approach, but these are not ordinary times with mounting death tolls, the casualty lists in the current war against the virus and continuing spread despite public health measures to delay it.
Likely the pandemic will continue with mounting death tolls.
While we might disagree with WHO, I think everyone is in agreement it’s a public health emergency, and so an emergency response is appropriate. Rather than disparage and condemn the Russians, let’s see the data.
This is analogous to Trumptaking a course of hydroxychloroquine, Putin’s daughter taking the vaccine.
Perhaps leadership involves willingness to take a risk, which the traditional pharmaceutical experts and regulatory agencies aren’t able or willing to do.
Apologies, I should have stated 60 to 90 days of vacine-induced antibody protection, but regardless, it’s a short time line. I hear your argument and will await further facts regarding protective properties of a vaccine beyond antibodies.
Follow the money. Fauci is a shill. Time to check who has Gilead stock. Or simply nationalize it. This is a national emergency and disaster. Pick up the pieces later.
Anything we are told by the media, government or assorted “ex-spurts” must be taken with a bucket of salt. I have no reason to expect the Russian sources to be more or less honest than they are in the U.S., so I ask, “who benefits?” Personally, I don’t trust any of these people so I’ll withhold judgment until claims can be verified to my satisfaction.
It doesn’t matter if Russia’s vaccine works or not…the Democrats simply can’t allow the American economy to re-open so the vaccine is being blitzed by their rank propagandists in the MSM.
I think the comments about the Big Pharma losing money are probably close to the mark. If the vaccine were ineffective, or if it had bad side effects, the Russians are testing it on their people. We can watch, and choose not to take it. They are giving it the widest and best test possible, on their own people. The attempts by the media to undercut the Russian effort seems to have an ulterior motive.
Remember in school there were smart kids and not so smart kids(me) in every class. Every Doctor didn’t finish at the top of his or her class. Just because someone has an opinion doesn’t mean we should all follow their lead. What if they were the dumb kid?
@Steve
Hi–just noticed your 2nd comment. I can’t give the full response you deserve because science is not my field and I hesitate to query too much but one of the things my wife casually mentioned that stuck is that some kind of cells that aid in resistance are formed in the bone marrow. Apparently there are other factors and options too. My recollection is that production of the Russian vaccine in quantity would take months and that the initiative (altho breaking with procedure) is under the circumstances likely laudable and that efficacy, though promising, is not possible at this point to absolutely predict.
Stay optimistic!
Russia should not overly concern themselves. If the vaccine is successful and works, why should they care what others say about it. It’s always easy for others to be negative, especially when they have nothing with which to compete.