Russia is pressuring Israel to authorize the use of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine alongside those of Moderna and Pfizer, Ynet has learned.
The Russian push for Israel to embrace the Sputnik vaccine is apparently due to Israel's massively successful vaccination drive, with Moscow making repeated requests on the issue.
Meanwhile Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi was traveling to Moscow on Tuesday for a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
Israel last month agreed to pay $1.5 million to provide the Sputnik vaccine to Syria as part of a Russian-mediated agreement to secure the release of an Israeli woman was being held by the Syrian regime after illegally crossing the border from Israel. The woman has since been charged with entering an enemy state.
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Russia President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting in Jerusalem in 2019
(Photo: Marc Israel Sellem)
Russia was the first to release a COVID-19 vaccine last August, but the Sputnik V was met with some suspicion over safety and efficacy around the world and even inside Russia itself.
The Russian government then launched an international campaign to promote its vaccine as a safe and sought-after solution to the pandemic.
Six months after its release, there is greater demand for the Sputnik with vaccine-hungry countries clamoring to buy it.
Much of the interest was created as the Western-made vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna became in short supply and after the British medical journal The Lancet published a report early in February that the Russian jab was 91% effective.
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow has claimed that 50 governments, including the Palestinian Authority, have already authorized the use of the vaccine. Israel has also said it would facilitate the transfer of the Sputnik V to the PA.