Slovakia bans use of Russian vaccine

Slovakia today banned the use of the Russian vaccine against choreography Sputnik V. Health Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Eliasova said that over 18,500 Slovak citizens have already been vaccinated with this vaccine.

In March, Slovakia has acquired 200,000 Sputnik V doses, becoming the second European Union member state after Hungary, supplied with them.

Sputnik V was not approved by the European Bars Agency EMA. The four vaccines approved by this agency are: Pfizer. BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson.

Sputnik V acquisitions have triggered major political reactions in Slovakia, while the demand for this vaccine has been low. Three members of the four-party ruling coalition have opposed the acquisitions. The controversy has led to the resignation of then-Prime Minister Igor Matovovic and Health Minister Marek Krajic.

The restructured government, led by Edward Heger, was formed on 1 April. In an interview for AFP in June, Heger has said Slovakia's decision to buy the Russian vaccine has been taken due to pressure for supply at the time and that it will not be repeated.

The decision is taken under strong influence, perhaps the strongest influence of pandemic. We needed a lot of vaccine”, Heger said. Slovakia, with 5.4 million people, has recorded 394,923 cases of coronarys since the beginning of the epidemic last spring. Of them, 12,548 patients have lost their lives.