Russia reportedly has developed the world's first COVID vaccine — and the US immediately sanctioned the Russian entity involved

04 September 2020

Humanity-supporting American leadership?

From The Grayzone:

The Russian government announced this August that it had registered the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, called Sputnik V.

Sputnik V was developed by the Russian Health Ministry’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. This scientific facility created the vaccine in a joint research project with the Russian Defense Ministry’s 48th Central Research Institute.

On August 27, the US Commerce Department imposed sanctions on Russia’s 48th Central Research Institute, blacklisting the scientific body.

While Russia took a state-led approach to create a coronavirus vaccine, the Trump administration announced a “public-private partnership” in May. The program, called “Operation Warp Speed,” saw the US government dole out billions of tax dollars to Big Pharma companies.

In the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic and a historic economic crisis, Washington has escalated its global campaign of economic warfare, imposing sanctions on foreign adversaries and announcing new punitive measures on a nearly daily basis.

More than one-fourth of people on Earth live in countries that are suffering from US sanctions.

Original wording from the Federal Register:

The ERC [End-User Review Committee] has determined to add 33rd Scientific Research and Testing Institute; 48th Central Scientific Research Institute, Kirov; 48th Central Scientific Research Institute, Sergiev Posad; 48th Central Scientific Research Institute, Yekaterinburg; and State Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology under the destination of Russia, based on their involvement with the Russian military.

Specifically, the ERC has reasonable cause to believe that 33rd Scientific Research and Testing Institute is a Ministry of Defense facility associated with the Russian chemical program and chemical weapons testing range, and that State Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology is a Russian Ministry of Defense facility associated with the Russian chemical weapons program.

The ERC also has reasonable cause to believe that 48th Central Scientific Research Institute, Kirov; 48th Central Scientific Research Institute, Sergiev Posad; and 48th Central Scientific Research Institute, Yekaterinburg are Ministry of Defense facilities associated with the Russian biological weapons program.

Bureau of Industry and Security, Commerce, Addition of Entities to the Entity List, and Revision of Entries on the Entity List, 15 CFR 744 (85 FR 52898, pages 52898-52909) (27 August 2020)

Let's think this American-sponsored nastiness through

First, Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology was apparently an okay entity — until it beat America's whiny diaper off by reportedly creating a COVID vaccine before Uncle Sam's own Big Pharma could.

How's that for exhibiting (a) gracious American cultural maturity and (b) the "humanity is one" idea?

Let's ponder this from a Russian perspective

First, SARS-CoV-2 is, very possibly, a human-designed, gain-of-function-added natural coronavirus:

Gain-of-function means intentionally making viruses more infectious to humans.

This can easily be done by reconfiguring viral RNA or DNA, so that the nucleic acid sequences that control biochemical receptor binding are more likely to successfully get the virus into human cells.

In SARS-VoV-2's case the possibly intentional alteration comes at its "furin cleavage site."

The question is whether this is a natural or lab-created occurrence.

See:

Yuri Deigin, Lab-Made? SARS-CoV-2 Genealogy Through the Lens of Gain-of-Function Research, Medium (22 April 2020)

For hypothetical purposes, let's dodge the deluge of propaganda that tries (unconvincingly) to undermine the lab-creation hypothesis:

In truth, there is no way to tell what happened in COVID's case.

My own suspicion points toward intentionally added gain of function. That, for statistical probability reasons.

In opposition to the unwelcome "humans did it" idea, the entire molecular biology community — as well as both American and Chinese governments — have a lot to lose, if someone proves that engineered the virus's additional infectivity.

Keeping in mind that we are examining the probable Russian reaction to sanctions, let's consider the circumstantial evidence that favors a partial lab creation.

The Wuhan laboratory — which, given its geographical location, may have inadvertently leaked SARS-CoV-2 — was doing American gain-of-function research.

This research had been funded by American Anthony Fauci's own National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases:

See here, here and here.

Fauci's Institute reportedly withdrew its Wuhan gain-of-function funding — and conveniently terminated its possibly culpable complicity — just as soon as the virus escaped (or transmitted itself) into Wuhan's population.

Thus, from the Russian perspective the US is punitively chastising the Federation for trying to clean up the mess that China and the US together created in their own version of very dangerous "health" research.

That's gall. By any reasonable international standard.

Especially so, because China and the US had arguably — again based on circumstantial evidence — created the equivalent of a bioweapon, but were too clueless to simultaneously create antidotes against it.

And now, American leaders are essentially whining that the Russians, who are trying to help themselves and the world, are better at doing molecular biology than "we" are.

Laughable, no?

I have difficulty coming up with a more indicative exhibition of US-sponsored sour grapes.

Can we defend this unnecessarily provocative US nonsense?

Perhaps under Realpolitik's conceptual umbrella?

Probably not.

It is conceptually useful to recognize that, if the Russian vaccine works, the US is doing its best to prevent other peoples from accessing it.

Is this moral evil offset by some useful strategic benefit to the United States?

No.

That is because the Russian vaccine venture — if it proves both safe and efficacious under large population testing — cannot possibly crowd American vaccine suppliers out of the global market.

Vaccine demand, given deliberately amplified COVID hysteria worldwide, will be too huge.

Essentially, then, the US sanction boils down to petty harassment.

Yet, petty or not, it is simultaneously still significant enough to enrage the Russian Federation for no good reason.

Strategically speaking — which is ultimately the whole point to practicing Realpolitik — I would call all the anti-Russia sanctions a typically stupid mistake on the United States' part.

Especially so, if these continual American provocations result in a nuclear engagement sometime down the road.

Too bad that American leadership has gone from being adult (in the late 1700s) to imitating tantrum-throwing toddlers (in the early 2000s).

US leadership has turned itself into a consistently ugly world spectacle

Whatever we invent reasons to disapprove of a nation, we attack its "common people" with deluge-down economic sanctions. These often include shutting off food and medical supplies, among many other things. Children, especially, suffer.

This is a particularly nasty form of American Government cowardice.

Yet, we do it all the time because American leaders are too chickenshit to send themselves (or our troops, in very large numbers) to attain the US Plutocracy's dominate-the-world goals.

Instead, US leadership fritters away our nation's historically earned soft power — meaning the United States' formerly deserved international reputation for decency — by acting, today, in notably people-killing ways.

One result of these provocative American posturings has been the noticeable effort, particularly in Russia and China, to undermine the strength of the American dollar by reverting to other currencies.

American strategy for years has been the equivalent of shooting oneself in both feet and both reproductive gonads for good measure.

The moral? — American Government "values"

What are those?

Greed?

Cultural viciousness?

Toddlers' tantrums?

Or just becoming a generalized enemy of humanity?

Everywhere we look, the United States is doing an effective job of undermining the goodwill that noticeably wiser past American leaders managed to foster.

And now we are trying to prevent other nations from slowing COVID down.

PeteFree.com

Russia reportedly has developed the world's first COVID vaccine — and the US immediately sanctioned the Russian entity involved