Russia Can’t Afford to Trip Up in the Vaccine Race
The Kremlin wants to win back scientific prestige tarnished by a brain drain and years of underinvestment. Allegations of hacking make that difficult.
The race for a vaccine just got even hotter.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Imaes
Moscow researchers say one of the country’s potential coronavirus vaccines has been proven safe in small-scale human trials, and is ready for wider tests. It should be a modest win for a country that has sought for years to restore its Soviet-era reputation for cutting-edge science, and for President Vladimir Putin.
Yet on Thursday, Britain, the U.S. and Canada accused Russia of hacking international research centers that are trying to develop a vaccine. The Kremlin denies any involvement, while the head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund called the allegations an attempt to tarnish the Russian research effort. It’s still an accusation that jeopardizes a hoped-for inoculation boost for prestige. Old-school vaccine diplomacy might help. Even in the depths of the Cold War, Soviet and U.S. doctors collaborated to battle polio, and later smallpox.