Russian state-controlled media outlets lavished attention on the Sputnik V vaccine following its August 2020 launch. A robust public relations campaign furthered these efforts on a global scale. The PR campaign for the state-funded vaccine development effort has promoted it as the “vaccine for humankind.” The initial sales pitch to audiences in the Global South was straightforward enough: Sputnik V was “one of the most efficient vaccines against [the] coronavirus in the world with an efficacy rate of more than 90 percent and a price that is two times lower than that of others with similar efficacy rates.” Given the relative ease of transporting and storing Sputnik V, it is an obvious solution to curbing the pandemic in countries across Africa and the Middle East. More than a year after the launch of Sputnik V, promotional efforts (which are occasionally boosted by public comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin) have claimed that the vaccine is now “registered” for use in over seventy countries, including fifteen in Africa.
Russian COVID-19 Diplomacy in Africa: A Mixed Bag – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
