In Austria, there are citizens who want to be vaccinated against coronavirus only with the Russian drug Sputnik V. This was announced on Sunday, April 25, by the head of the country’s Ministry of Health Wolfgang Mükstein.
According to him, subject to the approval of the vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), he also recognizes the effectiveness of Sputnik.
“I am pragmatic in this respect. If 1 million doses are available in September, then I will say: come on! Even if we then may no longer need them. There are also people who certainly want Sputnik, only Sputnik, the minister said in an interview with Kronen Zeitung
On April 19, a prominent Austrian businessman Christian Mucha told Izvestia that the EU’s reluctance to take the Russian Sputnik V vaccine was absurd and a political measure to punish Russia. So he commented on the statement of the European Commission about probable problems with vaccination certificates in the EU for those citizens who travel to Russia and other countries to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
On March 30, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced Austria’s intention to negotiate with Russia on the use of Sputnik V. According to the Chancellor, since February Austria has been “in good dialogue with the Russian side,” for which he is very grateful.
Later, on April 6, he noted that the possibility of a priority acquisition of Sputnik V is a “great chance” for Austria, and added that there are different ways to register a Russian drug: wait for the EMA registration or act at the national level.
The EMA began the procedure for the consecutive examination of the registration dossier of Sputnik V in early March. A month earlier, it was reported that the EU regulator completed scientific advice on the drug and gave the developer the opportunity to apply for registration of the vaccine in the EU, which RDIF did.