EU not in talks to buy Russian Covid-19 vaccine

The European Commission said on Thursday that there were no ongoing negotiations about buying Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.

The announcement was made just hours after the EU drugs regulator (the European Medicines Agency) began reviewing the shot for possible approval.

Brussels has supply contracts in place with six European and US vaccine makers for a total of nearly 2.6bn doses.

“Currently no talks are ongoing to integrate the Sputnik vaccine in the portfolio,” a Commission spokesman told a news conference.

“Just because a vaccine is approved at European level, following positive assessment by the EMA, it does not mean there is any obligation for the Commission to include it in our portfolio,” a second spokesman for the Commission said.

Officials are adamant that they wouldn’t be pushing inoculations of the Russian jab without an EMA approval.

Sputnik V has already been approved or is being assessed for approval in three EU member states - Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.