Russian science created Sputnik vaccine. Why don't Russians trust it?
When Sputnik V became the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine to be officially registered last August, many commentators derided it as “Putin’s vaccine” and stressed the non-transparent, state-led, and propaganda-driven manner of its introduction.
In what looked like politically driven haste, the vaccine was declared ready for use before tests had been completed, or adequate information made available to the global scientific community.
“There was no scientific data at the beginning, no transparency. Then suddenly they began public vaccination,” says Irina Yakutenko, a Berlin-based molecular biologist and science journalist. “They
Real science and a dubious public
