Business Insider: Russia approved a coronavirus vaccine before confirming it was safe and effective. Experts say the nation’s risky bet paid off.
Wed February, 2021, Age: 3 years
This article is chiefly about Russia’s gamble in approving a vaccine for the coronavirus before it had conducted and reviewed large trials of the vaccine. However, the article has interesting implications for China. China has attempted to use its developed coronavirus vaccines to its diplomatic advantage but it has struggled with the ability to supply its vaccines to its allies. China has also been mired in controversy over the efficacy of its vaccines with some studies revealing that China’s vaccines are only barely more than 50% effective against the coronavirus. China was dealt another blow yesterday when a peer-reviewed study in the British scientific journal, the Lancet, revealed that Russia’s ‘Sputnik V’ vaccine was 92% effective against the coronavirus, on par with vaccines developed in the U.S., the UK and Germany. This means that in the contest to develop and manufacture an effective vaccine to ward off the coronavirus, China is firmly in last place.