(Newswire.net— August 27, 2020) — The United States has imposed sanctions against five Russian scientific research institutes, which worked on developing a vaccine for the coronavirus, including the Institute of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, it was published on the website of the American Ministry of Trade.
The explanation states that it is suspected that the Russian institutes, which are included in the blacklist, “work on chemical and biological weapons”, reports Sputnik.
The list includes the 33rd Central Scientific Research Institute, the 48th Central Scientific Research Institute, as well as the Moscow State Central Scientific Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology.
The Russian anti-covid vaccine was developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Research Institute along with the Russian Defence Ministry. The vaccine dubbed Sputnik V was officially registered by the Russian government on 11 August.
The Russian Ministry of Health said that Sputnik V had undergone all the necessary checks and had been proven to be capable of building immunity against the virus, however, the Western countries claim the Russian vaccine only passed the first of three necessary phases.
Russian Senator Oleg Morozov says that there are two reasons for America’s decision to impose sanctions on scientific institutes:
“America is waging a war against the Russian vaccine in two directions – on the one hand, it is a question of the prestige of American science, which has once again lost to us and is now covering up its defeat with sanctions, and on the other hand, it is a matter of pure calculation,” Morozov said.
The world’s first COVID-19 vaccine, named Sputnik V, was registered in Russia on 11 August.
Although some Western countries have expressed reservations about the vaccine’s safety, as it has yet to pass phase III of clinical trials, the Russian Health Ministry has said that Sputnik V underwent all the necessary checks and was proven to be capable of building immunity against the virus.