The European Union announced that they are currently not negotiating with Russia for the purchase of the Sputnik V vaccine developed against COVID-19 in Russia.
At the daily press conference, Stefan De Keersmaecker, a spokesperson for the EU Commission, answered the question of whether they had a purchase meeting with Russia after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) pre-evaluated the Sputnik V vaccine.
“We currently do not have any discussions to add the Sputnik vaccine to our portfolio,” said De Keersmaecker.
Reminding that the EU conducts vaccine purchases jointly with member countries, De Keersmaecker said, “EU countries and the EU Commission can always decide to add other vaccines to the portfolio.”
“EMA’s positive evaluation does not mean that we will receive the vaccine”
EU Commission Chief Spokesperson Eric Mamer said, “The approval of a vaccine for use in Europe as a result of the positive evaluation of the EMA does not necessarily mean that the EU Commission will include that vaccine in its portfolio.”
The EU’s drug regulator EMA announced that Russia has pre-evaluated the COVID-19 vaccine called “Sputnik V”. It takes 3 months for EMA to approve if it is an official application through the pre-evaluation process.
Russia had previously announced that it could deliver 100 million doses of vaccine to the EU by June.
The EU has so far only approved vaccines produced by companies from Western countries. These were the vaccines of BioNTech-Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca. Johnson and Johnson’s company also applied to EMA for the use of the vaccine in the EU.
Some countries turn to Russia and China vaccines
The EU has so far, including options, to purchase 600 million doses of vaccine with BioNTech-Pfizer, 400 million with AstraZeneca, 300 million with Sanofi-GSK, 400 million with Johnson and Johnson, 405 million with CureVac, and 460 million with Moderna.
As the distribution of vaccines and vaccines continues slowly in EU countries, some EU members have turned to vaccines developed in China and Russia. For now, Slovakia, Hungary, and Czechia are the countries that receive vaccines that are not in the EU’s portfolio.
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