The EU's vaccine rollout has faced widespread criticism from within the bloc as delivery shortfalls hampered early efforts to get jabs into arms.
Beijing and Moscow
have stepped up "state-sponsored disinformation" campaigns
denigrating Western-developed vaccines against Covid while promoting their own,
the EU said on Wednesday.
"The
so-called 'vaccine diplomacy' follows a zero-sum game logic" that seeks to
"undermine trust in Western-made vaccines, EU institutions and
Western/European vaccination strategies," a report from the EU's foreign
service said.
Since December,
Russian media, authorities and state companies have united behind pushing the
Sputnik V vaccine while using "antagonistic messaging" to accuse the
EU of "sabotaging" the Russian jab, the report said.
"Pro-Kremlin
media outlets, including the official Sputnik V Twitter account, have sought to
undermine public trust in the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and cast doubt on
its procedures and political impartiality."
The report said
that state-backed media had tried to "sow confusion" over an
application for marketing approval by the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in a bid to
fuel the narrative that the body had been deliberately delaying giving the
greenlight.
"Pro-Kremlin
outlets have also accused the EMA and the EU in general of political bias
against the Russian-made vaccine," it said.
Beijing meanwhile was
promoting its vaccines as "more suitable for developing countries,"
including those in the Western Balkans, while deploying "misleading
narratives" about the safety of Western vaccines and even on the origin of
the coronavirus, the report said.
The EU's vaccine
rollout has faced widespread criticism from within the bloc as delivery
shortfalls hampered early efforts to get jabs into arms.
There have also
been concerns over the safety of some vaccines -- especially AstraZeneca --
over links to rare blood clots and some countries have restricted its use.
Brussels insists
that deliveries are now picking up and the bloc is on target to inoculate 70
percent of adults by the end of July.
Nonetheless EU
member Hungary broke ranks and has been administering the Russian and Chinese
jabs, while Austria and Germany said they are in talks to purchase Sputnik V.
The EMA launched a
rolling review of Sputnik V in March. If it gets the regulator's approval it
would be the first non-Western coronavirus vaccine authorised for use across
the 27-nation bloc.
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