Another EU leader says he wants a Russian vaccine: he fears Putin “is not very nice”

In an interview with the Czech radio station Frequency 1, Zeman confirmed his intention to ask President Vladimir Putin for help.

However, according to Zeman, he fears Putin “is not very nice” after the scandal over the removal of the monument to Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev in Prague.

He had in mind the dismantling of a giant bronze statue in the spring of 2020. Even before that, the square near the Russian embassy was renamed in honor of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was shot in Moscow in 2015. Both events they overshadowed Czech-Russian relations.

The Czech Republic has been one of the EU countries hardest hit by the pandemic since the autumn. The number of new infections registered daily is 10.7 million. in a country with a population of about 8,000. There is debate and anger over the lack of a vaccine.

Social media in this “incapable” EU is often blamed. Recently, there has been an increase in requests for the vaccine to be imported from Russia or China, as Hungary planned.

Following the European Union (EU) dispute with AstraZeneca over the supply of the vaccine, Russia is trying to inject its product into the Community. 100 million could be delivered to EU countries in the second quarter. Sputnik V vaccine dose, a state-owned direct investment fund that finances the vaccine program and sells the vaccine abroad, reported Friday in Moscow.

It could vaccinate 50 million people. persons. However, the condition is that the vaccine is registered by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The corresponding request has already been sent.

According to the fund, the vaccine could be supplied to the EU once the majority of Russia’s population has been vaccinated. The country has been vaccinating the population since December. According to the latest data, the vaccine in Russia so far received more than 1.5 million. population.

The Sputnik V vaccine has already been registered in 15 countries. Hungary was the first EU country to ask for 2 million. dose of Russian preparation.

Russia registered the vaccine in mid-August before the completion of major tests. This has drawn international criticism. There are no independent studies of this vaccine.

The British and Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is facing problems with the production of vaccines.

Commenting on Hungary’s decision to buy the Russian drug Sputnik V, a representative of the European Commission (EC) said that the EU did not prohibit individual member states from purchasing non-centrally approved community vaccines against coronavirus infection.

“Member states can, if they wish, negotiate and conclude agreements with vaccine developers not mentioned in our vaccine strategy,” said Stefan de Keersmaecker, health spokesman, at a press conference in Brussels.

According to him, the most important thing is that the products entering the EU market are safe.

“That is why we urge that the vaccines be analyzed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA),” said the EC spokesman.

However, he emphasized that the purchase of vaccines not included in the EC portfolio is a matter of risk and responsibility of the national authorities. Furthermore, the distribution of such medicinal products will only be allowed within the territory of the authorizing Member State.

Another EC spokesman, Eric Mamer, explained that manufacturers in other parts of the world can offer their vaccines to the EU, but they must first be approved by the EEA. Once approved, the product can be distributed throughout the European market.

In August, a few months before its Western rivals, Russia registered the world’s first vaccine against the Sputnik V coronavirus, named after the first artificial ground satellite launched by the Soviet Union.

However, the country has taken that step before launching large-scale clinical trials. For this reason, Western experts and some Russians have raised concerns about the urgency of developing the drug, and critics have described it as a means of increasing Russia’s geopolitical influence.