Prof. Zeev Rothstein, Director General of Hadassah Medical Center and Chairman of the Israeli Health Ministry’s drug basket allocation system announced on Thursday in an interview with Ynet that Hadassah Hospital has ordered 1.5 million doses of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, and plans to ask for permission to use the vaccine in Israel if the initial trial is successful – despite concerns about its safety and the quality of regulation that accompanied its development.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Wednesday that Moscow is ready for coronavirus vaccine cooperation, especially with Europe, and pointed out that the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V had already been registered in Russia and work on two more vaccines was underway.
“We are ready to cooperate with others in terms of vaccination, particularly on the Council of Europe’s platform,” Lavrov said.
Prof. Rothstein explained that the order for the Russian vaccine doses will be approved when the Sputnik V becomes commercial and after its registration processes are completed in Israel.
“We are currently submitting the Russian vaccine to the Ministry of Health for approval, and at the same time, if the registration is indeed carried out in Israel, we were given an option to purchase 1.5 million units,” he said. “The Health Ministry will receive the registration case, ask questions, and check the published data.”
“If we disqualify the Russian vaccine in advance and then it turns out that other countries have received it, we would only have ourselves to blame,” Prof. Rothstein warned.
According to Prof. Rothstein, the evidence points in favor of the safety of the Russian vaccine. “We have a lot of appreciation for the Russian vaccine,” he said. “Hadassah Hospital in Moscow is taking part in the vaccination, and our people report very good things. At the moment, we are talking about safety and not efficiency, but when the research is over we will know for sure if it’s also effective. The trials conducted by many companies around the world were stopped because they had safety issues. The Russian vaccine has not been stopped and none of the subjects have grown horns,” he joked.
Prof. Rothstein explained that although the Russian vaccine is not subject to the same level of regulation as with Western companies, in Russia “everything is reported like everywhere else.”
He argued that many underestimate the effectiveness of the Russian vaccine because of political and economic considerations. “The war is over billions of dollars worldwide,” he said. “It’s not just Russia and the United States, but East Asian and European countries as well, each country is trying to produce and administer the vaccine. Mortality is still rampant and therefore the Russian vaccine should not be dismissed.”
“If the Russian vaccine turns out to be ineffective at the end of the trials, of course, we will not use it,” he said. “We have a very good regulatory system and I trust it.”