Western Media Blitz Aimed at Russia's Sputnik V Vaccine May Already Be
Costing Lives
People are already needlessly suffering as a result of renewed great power
competition as a recent DHHS report reveals that the first deaths in the
second Cold War may have already occurred.
by Alan Macleod
March 15th, 2021
Mint Press News
By Alan Macleod
WASHINGTON - A new report from the Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS) boasts that, throughout 2020, it worked with other U.S. government
agencies to combat the "malign influence" of Russia, Cuba and Venezuela in
the Americas. The two examples it cites are "persuading Brazil to reject the
Russian COVID-19 vaccine" and pushing Panama to turn down Cuba's offer to
send doctors to fight the virus.
Partially as a result of refusing aid and following former president Trump's
every order, Brazil is beset by a rampaging virus, having lost over 278,000
people to COVID-19, behind only the United States in total deaths. Brasil
Wire's John McEvoy, who first reported on the news, said U.S. actions had
"likely kill[ed] thousands of Brazilians."
Meanwhile, Panama's outbreak is, per capita, even worse than Brazil's, with
the tiny nation having already lost 6,000 citizens to the virus.
The world's most trusted vaccine
The Russian state-funded Sputnik V vaccine is one of the only options for
the Global South, as rich, developed countries have hoarded other vaccines,
ordering far more doses than would be necessary to treat their entire
populations. At the same time, they have struck down attempts by poor
nations to waive intellectual property concerns and produce the vaccine
themselves - a move condemned by medical organizations like Medecins Sans
Frontieres. This means that the Russian, Chinese, or a potential Cuban
vaccine currently in the final testing stages are their only hope.
Sputnik V has also been subject to an intense Western propaganda campaign
aimed at defaming it. In January, Twitter was even forced to suspend
Sputnik's official account after a hack was detected emanating from
Virginia. "Now who in Virginia might want to sabotage a global health
initiative by one of Washington's "official enemies?" wrote former MintPress
contributor Morgan Artyukhina, strongly implying she believed one of the
many three-letter agencies headquartered in the state was behind the hack.
Twitter Suspends Account of Russian COVID Vaccine Citing Attempted US Hack
Twitter suspended the account of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine after
suspicious activity originating in Virginia, home of the CIA.
MintPress News | Alan Macleod | Jan 15
Despite the defamation campaign, Russia is actually the most trusted vaccine
manufacturer worldwide, according to a study of 11 countries conducted by
British pollster YouGov. Over a billion doses have already been ordered
globally, and a number of European Union members, including Hungary, Czechia
and Slovakia, have broken ranks and unilaterally began administering the
shot to their populations. An alarmed EU has tried to put a stop to it,
urging caution. However, their words have proven ineffective, as the
27-nation bloc's vaccine rollout has been distinctly lackluster.
Blood clots and blocked shots
Adding to Europe's woes are the increased worries about the
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, with a great many European countries, including
Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Bulgaria, Norway and Romania suspending its use.
This is due to a potential link to blood clots reported in multiple nations.
The first reports of a potential link to clotting came from Austria. Then a
number of Norwegians experienced similar problems, with one person dying.
The Italian region of Piedmont also temporarily suspended its vaccination
campaign to investigate whether the death of a local teacher had any
connection to the jab.
"We can't allow any doubts about the vaccine," Dutch Health Minister Hugo de
Jonge said, explaining his government's decision to do the same. "We have to
make sure everything is right, so it is wise to pause for now."
Western media have been extremely cautious in reporting on concerns. In its
article yesterday detailing the cavalcade of countries suspending its use,
The Guardian included no less than seven separate rebuttals to the idea that
the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was dangerous.
Considering the gravity of the situation - a global pandemic that is raging
out of control across five continents, already killing over 2.66 million
people - this is a pertinent decision, especially as there is already a
considerable lack of will among many populations to receive the vaccine.
Blood clots are a relatively common occurrence. Of the millions of people
who have already been inoculated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca offering, there
have been just 30 reports of blood clots, and only one fatality. One would
expect a higher rate among a random sample of the population. It is
therefore vastly more dangerous to be exposed to COVID-19 than risk any as
yet unproven blood clot from the British vaccine.
The World Health Organization today reconfirmed its faith in
Oxford-AstraZeneca. "There is no evidence that the incidents are caused by
the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that
we can save lives and stem severe disease from the virus," they stated.
"Reckless and unethical"
The Guardian's sobriety is in complete contrast to how it has portrayed
Sputnik V, describing it as "controversial," its development "reckless and
unethical," claiming there was a "rising chorus of concern" from experts
about its safety, and generally framing it as unconvincing and suspicious.
This naysaying only appeared to change after it was announced that Sputnik V
might be combined with Oxford-AstraZeneca to increase effectiveness. Last
month, the Lancet, the most prestigious medical journal in the world, came
out to fully endorse Russia's vaccine offering as both safe and effective.
NY Times Sinopharm bias
Dangerous clickbait from the New York Times
Meanwhile, much of Western reporting on the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine has
been beyond irresponsible. Reuters, for example, published an article
entitled "Peru volunteer in Sinopharm vaccine trial dies of COVID-19
pneumonia, university says." Yet later the same article reveals that she
had, in fact, not even received a vaccine, but was part of a control group
receiving a placebo. Meanwhile, The New York Times ran a story with the
headline "Brazil resumes Chinese vaccine trial after a brief suspension
following the death of a volunteer." The person in question committed
suicide, as the article notes. However, the majority of news consumers do
not read past the headline, meaning that both these examples sow false doubt
about the Chinese vaccine's effectiveness. This, or the desire to generate
traffic with clickbait, are the two most likely explanations for such
misleading journalism.
It is a similar story on social media. Twitter's editorial team put up a
message today on its homepage noting that there is no causal link between
Oxford-AstraZeneca and blood clots. It has also banned users who spread
COVID-19 conspiracy theories about Western vaccines. Yet defaming those from
America's official enemies is commonplace on its platform. "Since Russia so
flagrantly cheated in sport's doping over decades, why would anyone trust
data coming out of Russia for their Sputnik vaccine?" Bill Browder, CEO of
Hermitage Capital tweeted last week to his audience of over a quarter
million people.
The Guardian warned that the mass uptake of Russian and Chinese vaccines
across the Global South meant that the West was "falling behind in the race
for influence." Considering that the U.S. is offering little except pressure
not to take up Russia, China or Cuba's offers, they are probably correct.
Corporate media's worry over so-called "vaccine diplomacy" hints at a
broader reason for the negative coverage of the Russian and Chinese
offerings.
The second Cold War
It is little secret that we are entering a second Cold War with both Russia
and China. War planners and policymakers have, for years, been discussing
how to attack those nations militarily, economically and through propaganda.
In recent months, the U.S. has sent warships and bombers to the South China
Sea, testing Chinese coastal defenses. In July, American destroyer the
U.S.S. Rafael Peralta sailed just 41 nautical miles from the coastal
megacity of Shanghai. President Trump also attempted to impede China's
economic rise, placing sanctions upon the country and attempting to stop the
spread of Huawei's global 5G network. Meanwhile, some U.S. war planners are
advocating a wholescale psychological war against China. The Pentagon's
budget request for 2021 makes clear that they envisage a shift away from the
Middle East and towards Russia and China as their new focus.
The Disarticulation of Pandemic War Propaganda
Taking apart a hackneyed piece of anti-China propaganda authored by an
international alt-right clique with links to the Pentagon.
MintPress News | Raul Diego | Mar 1
The U.S. public has already been convinced, by and large. After years of
negative publicity, Americans' opinions of those two nations have slumped to
below 1980s levels, with only 22% and 20% of the public holding positive
opinions about Russia or China, respectively.
Virtually all the victims of the first Cold War were in the Global South, in
countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia or Guatemala. People are already
needlessly suffering as a result of renewed great power competition. What
this latest DHHS report reveals is that the first deaths in the second Cold
War have already occurred.
