A (Cold) War for Vaccines

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the role of conspiracy theory in official Russian discourse on Corona vaccines. The period following the bombastically announced Russian approval of Sputnik V in August 2020 has seen a steady outpour of stories about concerted efforts (by Western agencies and governments) to frustrate or blacken Russia’s success. Exploring this conspiratorial take on vaccine diplomacy, the chapter offers a visual and discursive analysis of three types of materials: declarations by government officials regarding Sputnik V and its Western “competitors,” coverage by pro-Kremlin media platforms (in Russian and English), and the official website of Sputnik V. The analyses spotlight two aspects of Russian conspiracy theories about vaccines. First, the chapter draws attention to the instrumentalization of conspiratorial suspicion and dualism by the government and state-controlled media. As others have shown, official mobilizations of conspiracy theory predate the Corona crisis and played a significant role in garnering public support for Russia’s recent interventions in Ukraine. My analyses demonstrate that the self-proclaimed Russian victory in the “vaccine race” further cements a Putin-era narrative about the country’s renewed significance in the geopolitical arena, as well as its technological and scientific supremacy over the West. In this context, stories about Western spite, foul play, and orchestrated Russophobia are essential in obfuscating the discrepancy between a newfound national self-assertiveness and Russia’s limited successes in vaccine diplomacy and the domestic management of the virus. Second, the analyses reveal a “retro-conspiracism” that derives its rhetorical and emotional appeal from carefully construed resonances with Soviet-era symbolism, events, and narratives. This is not merely reflected in the name of the Russian vaccine (V for “Victory”), which frames it as a symbolic repetition of the Soviet win in the space race. From media visualizations of Sputnik V as a rocket or a satellite, to stories of information and intelligence battles, the Cold War is never far away in the state-controlled discourse on vaccine rivalry.