Awaiting approval by EMA: France warns of using Sputnik-V

Friday, March 5, 2021

Wait for approval by EMA
France warns of the use of Sputnik-V

Countries in the European Union that apply Russian or Chinese vaccines before they have been approved by the European Union agency are jeopardizing solidarity within the international community. At least France warns against this and is also addressing Germany’s direct neighbors.

France warns EU countries against using vaccines from China and Russia before they are approved by EU officials. Such deployment would be a problem for the solidarity and health risks of the international community, said Clement Buen, the European Minister of France for RTL radio.

The Russian vaccine Sputnik V has already been approved or is about to be approved in Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The EU Pharmaceutical Authority (EMA) announced on Thursday that it would begin with an ongoing data investigation of Sputnik V. This could subsequently speed up the broad approval of the European Union.

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced yesterday that he had no problem exporting vaccines from China and Russia, not even those who had traveled to Europe. The SPD politician said after meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic in Berlin that reports suggested that China would supply 46 countries and produce two billion doses of the vaccine by the end of the year. German pharmaceutical company Biontech and its US partner company Pfizer will also produce two billion vaccine supplements this year alone. In addition, twice as many people have been vaccinated in the European Union as Russia and China already.

“If you look at these numbers, you don’t always have to get so excited when vaccines are delivered from China or Russia to other countries,” Mass emphasized. “We don’t have to hide with what we’re doing in Europe and what we’re doing and what we’re already doing.” Maas also reported that every third euro of the international Kovacs vaccination initiative for poor countries comes from the European Union. This year Kovacs should receive three billion vaccinations for more than 140 countries.

Many European countries are already using vaccines from China and Russia. Serbia has received 1.5 million cartons from Chinese cyanoforms since January, and two million cartons from Russian Sputnik V to be delivered by the end of April. Hungary was the first European Union country to begin operating the Chinese active ingredient, even though it has not yet been approved by the European Union’s Medicines Agency (EMA). On Wednesday, it became known that Czech President Milos Zeman also turned to Chinese President Xi Jinping with a request for help in vaccination.