[ad_1]
“The worst thing is when vaccine problems are politicized,” said Vice President Andriukaitis.
According to him, it is clear that the European Medicines Agency should approve the safety and efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine.
“So we have to think about how to guarantee vaccination all over the world, including all of Europe, <...> to make the vaccination process as simple as possible with as many vaccines as possible, safe and effective. Be it AstraZeneca, Sputnik or Pfizer, etc. ”Said Vice President Andriukaitis.
According to the politician, the threat of a pandemic is enormous, so in this case people’s lives are the most important value and “everything else is secondary.”
The news portal tv3.lt recalls that Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė says that Lithuania would not buy the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, even if it was approved by the European Medicines Agency.
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.
Asta Skaisgirytė, the senior adviser to President Gitanas Nausėda, says that Lithuania has decided to buy only a Western vaccine.
“Lithuania has decided to buy vaccines manufactured in Western companies. They are already authorized by the European Medicines Agency or are in the process of authorization. We believe that we can be perfectly vaccinated with Western vaccines,” A. Skaisgirytė told News Radio on Tuesday.
According to her, both the Russian and Chinese vaccines are a “policy-making tool.”
Ms Skaisgirytė also said that, to the best of her knowledge, Russia had not yet applied for Sputnik’s authorization from 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.
[ad_2]
