EU slams ‘manipulation’ of vaccine info by China, Russia

Beijing and Moscow have stepped up “state-sponsored disinformation” campaigns denigrating Western-developed vaccines against COVID-19 while promoting their own, the EU says.

“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,” says a report from the EU’s foreign service.

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 says.

“Pro-Kremlin media outlets, including the official Sputnik V Twitter account, have sought to undermine public trust in the European Medicines Agency and cast doubt on its procedures and political impartiality.”

Beijing meanwhile is 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 EU report says.