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“6,000 doses of the Russian vaccine crossed the Hungarian border with Slovakia,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Facebook.
According to him, the shipment was delivered to Budapest, where Hungarian experts will decide how to use the vaccine.
Hungary began vaccinating its population with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, a day earlier than most other EU countries. Most of the other EU countries, including Lithuania, started vaccination on Sunday.
In November, Mr. Szijjarto assured that Hungary would be the first European country to receive the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. Meanwhile, Hungarian doctors and experts went to Russia to evaluate vaccine production.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not yet evaluated the Russian vaccine, which, according to Moscow, is 95% effective.
For their part, Western and Russian experts are concerned about the urgent approval of the Russian vaccine, with critics calling the vaccine a tool to strengthen Russia’s geopolitical influence.
According to Budapest, mass production of the Russian vaccine in Hungary could start next year if it is safe and effective.
“Hungary is open to all successfully developed vaccines in the world.” We are doing everything possible to bring all effective vaccines to Hungary, regardless of whether they are developed in the West or the East, “said Mr. Szijjarto.
Moscow states that an interim analysis of clinical trial data on this vaccine has shown that its efficacy is 95 percent.
However, Western and Russian experts have raised concerns about the extreme urgency of developing the vaccine, and critics have described it as a means of increasing Russia’s geopolitical influence.
According to Budapest, if the safety and efficacy of the drug is proven, the country could receive large batches of Sputnik V in the coming years, and one of the Hungarian companies could engage in mass production of the drug.
“Hungary is open to all successful vaccines,” Szijjart said on Monday.
“We are doing everything possible to ensure that Hungary receives all effective vaccines as soon as possible, no matter where they are developed, in the West or the East,” he said.
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