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Slovakia bans use of Russian Sputnik V vaccine

Politiko 2021-09-01 20:16:00

Slovakia bans use of Russian Sputnik V vaccine

Slovakia has officially stopped using the Russian vaccine against Covid-19 Sputnik V.

"In total, more than 18,500 people have been vaccinated with Sputnik V, " said Zuzana Eliasova, a spokeswoman for the health ministry.

The decision to use the Russian vaccine split Slovak politics and led to the resignation of former Prime Minister Igor Matovič.

Slovakia secretly bought 200,000 doses of Sputnik V in March, becoming the second European Union member state to do so after Hungary. The vaccine was not approved by the European Medicines Agency and was not authorized for use on the block.

After three parties in the Slovak coalition opposed the decision, Matovič and his health minister, Marek Krajci, were forced to resign.

Despite its availability, public demand for Sputnik V remained low in Slovakia, and Russia bought 160,000 unused doses in July.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund, which funded the development of the Moscow vaccine, said on Tuesday that Sputnik V faced a "disinformation campaign related to the political struggle between various groups within the Slovak government".

Speaking in June, new Prime Minister Edward Heger said the decision to buy the vaccines was made because of time pressures during the height of the pandemic. Russia's Sputnik V vaccine has an efficacy of 91.6% against COVID-19, according to a February study published in The Lancet.

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