Hillary Clinton admits Russia wins the game of 'vaccine diplomacy'

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton set out her concerns about Russia's victory over the US in "vaccine diplomacy."

Clinton said she was both "intrigued" and "a little saddened" about the way that Russia and China promote their coronavirus vaccines, The Independent reports.

"They are using vaccine diplomacy. They are going into countries and saying "We will take care of you." Their strides in doing so "leaves the United States playing catch up," she added.

Clinton stressed that the United States would have enough doses to vaccinate its entire population, so one needs to share the vaccines with others, both bilaterally and through the international mechanism to ensure the availability of COVAX vaccines.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (the maker of Sputnik V vaccine) has recently applied for the participation of the Sputnik V vaccine in the COVAX mechanism. In February, it became known that China would provide the mechanism with 10 million doses of its vaccine.

Russia and China supply their drugs bilaterally. Agreements for the supplies of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine have been concluded with more than 50 countries. The Chinese authorities say that they were sending their vaccines as humanitarian aid to 53 states, and to 27 other countries - on a commercial basis.