Šimonytė: Lithuania will not use Russian Sputnik V vaccine



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When asked about that possibility in an interview on Tuesday, the prime minister said the joint European Union acquisition would ensure a sufficient supply of Western-made vaccines to Lithuania, so there is “no need” to consider purchasing a Russian vaccine.

“Our vaccine portfolio consists of a number of vaccines that are already registered or in the process of registration, or that may not be registered in the near future, but others will emerge, and I’m sure we don’t need to consider this at all. “- I. Šimonytė told LRT radio.

The head of government says that Lithuanian society will be vaccinated with vaccines that are produced in “transatlantic partnership countries”.

“Lithuania’s decisions, which are taken together with other EU countries on the joint procurement of vaccines, certainly guarantee the vaccination of our society without the vaccines that are produced in non-EU and non-transatlantic countries,” said I Šimonytė.

The prime minister said the Russian government was using the vaccine for geopolitical purposes.

“Efforts to offer the vaccine to European countries and other countries, when the Russian people have not yet been vaccinated, seem like another geopolitical game, I have no doubts,” said the prime minister.

Discussions about the possibility of using Chinese and Russian vaccines have recently gained momentum in Europe.

Hungary was the first in the EU to approve Russo-Chinese vaccines without waiting for a joint decision, the Czech prime minister said he was considering such an option.

Without mentioning specific countries, I. Šimonytė said he was very sorry that some EU countries had decided to use vaccines that had not been approved by the European Medicines Agency.

Leaders in Germany and France say Russian and Chinese vaccines could be used if approved by the European Medicines Agency.

Many Westerners have long been skeptical of the Russian vaccine, but the mood changed with an article in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet this month saying that the effectiveness of Sputnik in protecting against COVID-19 is 91.6 percent.

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