SIMFEROPOL, OCTOBER 15, 2020: A researcher at a DNA synthesiser in the lab of the Biochemistry ... [+]
The race to create—and then sell—a coronavirus vaccine is not just the number one priority in global healthcare. It is now a battleground in global politics.
Even taking that into account, the latest reported development in the propaganda war surrounding this most keenly-contested competition is, frankly, bizarre.
The Times of London published October 16 claims that a Russian disinformation campaign was underway to try to spread fear about the safety of a vaccine being developed at the University of Oxford. According to the paper's investigation, "pictures, memes and video clips", prepared in Russia, warn of a peculiar hazard faced by those deciding to receive the vaccine: it could turn them into monkeys.
Like much of the disinformation that pollutes social media these days, it has a very distant and distorted relationship to a fact—albeit one that has been twisted beyond recognition to produce an absurd allegation.
That distant relationship is that, as the University of Oxford's website states, the vaccine uses, "a harmless, weakened adenovirus that usually causes the common cold in chimpanzees." Why? "it has been shown to generate a strong immune response from one dose in other vaccines" and "been used safely in thousands of subjects."
Just in case you really don't get the message, the site adds, "It has been genetically changed so that it is impossible for it to grow in humans."
"Designed To Destroy Confidence In Vaccine"
Some of the content produced for the alleged campaign, is, in the words of Manveen Rana, one of the journalists who worked on the Times investigation, "funny, instantly shareable" as she explained in a podcast. Rana also suggested, however, that it was "all designed to destroy confidence in the vaccine."
As with much of the misleading information that appears online these days, its exact source is hard to determine. As The Times conceded, "It is not clear if the propaganda attempt was directly authorised by the Kremlin."
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab speaks at a press conference with Secretary of State Mike ... [+]
The British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, seemed to have little doubt, “We know that Russia has a track record in this area,” he told Sky News, in remarks reported by Reuters.
It's not the first time Raab has pointed the finger at Russia. In July 2020, he said he was "absolutely confident" Russian spies were trying to steal vaccine research being carried out in the United Kingdom. The Russian ambassador to the U.K., Andrei Kelin, dismissed that allegation as having "no sense."
Russia registered the first vaccine, Sputnik V, in August. There was immediate interest from a number of countries, as Reuters reported at the time.
President Vladimir Putin sees Sputnik V as such a source of national pride that, when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly September 22, he even offered free doses to UN staff.
This is not just a scientific race-against-time to make a vaccine. It is a global struggle for national pride—and worldwide sales. The rewards for success will be significant.
So alongside the research, there is a global public relations battle. The reported disinformation campaign from Russia is a reminder that will not always be a clean contest.
