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“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, which were not included in the EC portfolio, was a risk and a responsibility for the authorities of the country in question. 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.
The Hungarian government announced on Friday that it had agreed to purchase a large quantity of Russian COVID-19 “Sputnik V” vaccines, although these vaccines have not yet been approved by the EVA.
“Hungary has reached an agreement with Russia to purchase a large quantity of Sputnik V vaccine in three stages; negotiated contract and [praėjusią] Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a video statement.
The statement was posted on Mr. Siyart’s Facebook account on the Facebook network after a meeting with the Russian health minister in Moscow.
Hungary will buy 2 million from Russia. dose of the Sputnik V vaccine, which was later confirmed by the head of Hungarian diplomacy.
“We have already received a copy of the agreement signed by the Russian representatives. Under this agreement, we will receive the batch of vaccine necessary to vaccinate a million people,” he said on Friday when he began talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
According to Mr. Szijjart, “we are talking about a potential of 2 million. since it is a two component vaccine ”.
“Like Russia, we are facing the economic and medical challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, vaccines are reaching Hungary very slowly, the minister noted.” That is why the agreements with Russia are so important to us so that we can obtain large quantities of suitable drugs from an independent source. “
Mr Lavrov, for his part, said that the Sputnik V test party in Hungary had “worked well”.
“We support further development of cooperation in this area,” stressed the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The contract was signed the day after Hungary became the first country in the European Union to approve a vaccine developed by Sputnik V and AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.
Hungary has repeatedly criticized what it calls the slow approval and procurement of vaccines in the European Union.
Under the block’s EEA rules, national regulators can issue temporary licenses for vaccines in emergency situations.
Amsterdam-based EVA is currently evaluating the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccines and has said a decision on their approval could be made by the end of next week.
However, the EVA is not considering Russian vaccines.
In Hungary, Sputnik V has yet to be finally approved by the country’s public health administration, so it is unclear when the vaccine could start.
Russia registered Sputnik V in August, a few months ahead of its Western competitors, but has yet to launch large-scale clinical trials. For this reason, some experts evaluated it unreliably.
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