Playing Politics With Covid-19

The insensitivity of certain politicians towards the suffering of common people, can be judged from the recent announcement made by Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding Sputnik V; a vaccine which he claimed as an answer to lethal Covid-19. Clearly, the claim is driven more by politics rather than reducing the ordeal of the people worldwide. The announcement is aimed at announcing Russia as the first to develop a vaccine for the virus. The President wants to show the world that under his leadership, his country was the most efficient saviour of mankind. So, the country deserves the top slot amongst developed nations and should be given the chance to lead the world.

While going all out to establish his country’s hegemony, Putin, who is the undisputed leader of Russia since the nineties, did not care about the procedures established before making such a claim. It is a known fact that to introduce a new medicine or vaccine, passing a few critical steps are necessary. A medicine or vaccine can enter the market only after clearing certified hurdles. The strict norms have been imposed to safeguard lives from harmful materials. But, even without going through the set procedures Sputnik V got the nod of the Russian President which is not only unethical, but also the beginning of a dangerous trend where unscrupulous businessmen may put thousands of lives in danger in search for more profit. Putin himself indulged in such a trend by claiming that Russia has already signed pacts with various nations and would supply 500 million doses of the vaccine.

It is known to everyone that as per the procedure the research documents relating to Sputnik V have still not been published in any reputed medical journal. Besides, the most critical part of launching a vaccine, stage-III trials on humans has also not been cleared. If stage-III is not cleared, the proposed vaccine will never be allowed to be used for human beings as per the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) directive. So, in other words the announcement has clearly proved that human safety was put in the backseat for expected political gains. Instead, the focus was national pride and personal glory.

To combat the Covid-19 menace, the world is working overtime to find a suitable vaccine. Nearly 150 projects in search of a vaccine are presently on-going in different laboratories all over the world. No one knows which project will meet success and which will not. Moreover, such research works can’t be time bound. If one goes back to history, it will be found that no vaccine was invented overnight. The virus has already infected more than two crore people and claimed over 7.5 lakh lives. In such a situation, we should be patient and follow necessary protocol as reckless hurry will put us in further danger. So, one can only hope that politicians refrain from playing politics with the virus. It’s a battle which should be fought unitedly. Let us not turn the battle into a game of political one-upmanship.