Russia hopes to make more money from vaccines than selling arms

Russia hopes to make more money on Covid-19 vaccines than selling Kalashnikov guns and other weapons.

‘Sputnik V is our new oil,’ declared pro-Kremlin popular newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP).

The claims came as Vladimir Putin was today being vaccinated against coronavirus, according to the Kremlin.

His spokesman did not say which of three Russian-made vaccines Putin was being jabbed with.

Vladimir Putin (pictured) was today being vaccinated against coronavirus, in private, the Kremlin said

Pro-Kremlin popular newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) has made claims that Russia hopes to make more money from their new Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine (pictured) than they currently earn from sales of oil and Kalashnikov guns

Pro-Kremlin popular newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) has made claims that Russia hopes to make more money from their new Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine (pictured) than they currently earn from sales of oil and Kalashnikov guns

‘We expect that he will get a vaccine shot by the end of the day,’ said Dmitry Peskov. ‘We will not show this, you will have to take our word for it.’

He told reporters: ‘As for being vaccinated in front of the cameras, he does not like it.’

Russia today said it would manufacture 89 million doses of vaccine in the first six months of this year, a combined figure for three separate drugs – Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, and CoviVac.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said herd immunity should be achieved in Russia by summer.

‘We think that if vaccination continues at a pace it is carried out now, we will be able to attain this goal in August. But I think the process will be faster,’ she said.

Kirill Dmitriev (pictured), head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said: 'We have the best vaccine, and it has nothing to do with politics'

Kirill Dmitriev (pictured), head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said: ‘We have the best vaccine, and it has nothing to do with politics’

Russia today said it would manufacture 89 million doses of vaccine in the first six months of this year, a combined figure for three separate drugs - Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, and CoviVac

Russia today said it would manufacture 89 million doses of vaccine in the first six months of this year, a combined figure for three separate drugs – Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, and CoviVac

KP boasted – without giving figures – that Sputnik V, Russia’s first vaccine, will be a major money spinner for the country.

It headlined a story declaring: ‘Sputnik V is our new oil: Russia will make more money on vaccines than on weapons.’

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, was quoted saying: ‘We have the best vaccine, and it has nothing to do with politics.’ 

Political expert Vitaly Tretyakov said: ‘A year ago, everyone doubted our abilities….’

But ‘when a big threat arose, our system began to work super efficiently, because it was necessary to solve a specific problem in a very short time.’

Russian political expert Vitaly Tretyakov (pictured) said that when the threat of Covid rose up, Russia's system 'began to work super efficiently'

Russian political expert Vitaly Tretyakov (pictured) said that when the threat of Covid rose up, Russia’s system ‘began to work super efficiently’

KP boasted - without giving figures - that Sputnik V, Russia's first vaccine, will be a major money spinner for the country, potentially outstripping their exports of oil (stock image)

KP boasted – without giving figures – that Sputnik V, Russia’s first vaccine, will be a major money spinner for the country, potentially outstripping their exports of oil (stock image)

The article claims that ‘everyone wins when we give our vaccine to other countries to produce’.

But Russia’s hopes of cashing in on its vaccines depend on a huge increase in production.

So far 6.3 million Russians have been vaccinated, with 4.3 million having had two jabs.

In 2019, Russia sold $13 billion worth of weapons, while last year it made $73 billion from oil sales.

President Putin announced yesterday that he would be vaccinated today, joining other world leaders who have received jabs including US President Joe Biden, Pope Francis and Queen Elizabeth.

Pictured: An infographic outlining how Russia's coronavirus vaccines differ from ones already available in the west and how it works to combat the virus

Pictured: An infographic outlining how Russia’s coronavirus vaccines differ from ones already available in the west and how it works to combat the virus

But unlike many others who were vaccinated in public – Biden was shown on TV being given the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, while Ukraine’s Volodomyr Zelensky even took off his shirt for the jab – Putin will do so behind closed doors.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the 68-year-old Russian leader, who has never been media shy during his two decades in power, does not want to get a jab in front of the cameras.

‘We will not show this, you will have to take our word for it,’ Peskov told reporters.

‘As for being vaccinated in front of the cameras, he does not like it.’

Peskov said the Kremlin chief would receive one of three Russian vaccines, declining to specify which one ‘on purpose’.

‘All three Russian vaccines proved their effectiveness and reliability,’ Peskov said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the 68-year-old Russian leader does not want to get a jab in front of the cameras (pictured, a health worker gives a dose of Sputnik V to a patient in Moscow, Russia on Tuesday)

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the 68-year-old Russian leader does not want to get a jab in front of the cameras (pictured, a health worker gives a dose of Sputnik V to a patient in Moscow, Russia on Tuesday)

Russia has developed three vaccines - Sputnik V (pictured), EpiVacCorona and CoviVac, though most of the attention has focused on Sputnik, named after the first satellite launched into space by the Soviet Union

Russia has developed three vaccines – Sputnik V (pictured), EpiVacCorona and CoviVac, though most of the attention has focused on Sputnik, named after the first satellite launched into space by the Soviet Union

Russia has developed three vaccines – Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac, though most of the attention has focused on Sputnik, named after the first satellite launched into space by the Soviet Union. 

Russia registered the Sputnik V vaccine last August, ahead of large-scale clinical trials, sparking concern among many experts over the fast-track process. 

But trial results published in The Lancet last month showed Sputnik V having 91.6 per cent efficacy, going some way to dispel Western doubts about the shot.  

EU regulators are studying the trial data in a step towards possible approval by the European Medicines Agency in what would be a propaganda coup for Putin. 

Russia’s vaccination campaign has been slower than in many countries but Peskov said Putin did not have to get vaccinated in public to encourage more Russians to get jabs.

‘The president is doing a lot to promote vaccines as is,’ Peskov said.

Only about four million of the country’s 144 million people have so far received two doses of a vaccine, while another two million have had a first dose.   

Vaccine scepticism runs high in Russia, with a recent opinion poll showing less than a third willing to have a jab, and close to two-thirds saying they believe the coronavirus is a man-made biological weapon.

The country has been among the hardest hit by Covid-19, with more than 4.4 million cases of the coronavirus and more than 95,000 deaths.

Vaccine scepticism runs high in Russia, with a recent opinion poll showing less than a third willing to have a jab (pictured, servicemen wait to receive the vaccine in Moscow, Russia)

Vaccine scepticism runs high in Russia, with a recent opinion poll showing less than a third willing to have a jab (pictured, servicemen wait to receive the vaccine in Moscow, Russia)