Hungary bought two million doses of Russian Vaccine Sputnik V

The Hungarian government bought two million doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V against the coronavirus, despite the fact that the drug has not yet been authorized by the European Union (EU).

The Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter SzijjártóHe assured this Friday, after meeting in Moscow with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, that the vaccines will reach the Central European country in three batches: a first of 600,000 doses, another of a million and a third of 400,000. The official did not specify when the first batch will arrive.

Hungary confirmed last Thursday the authorization, by its health authorities, of the Russian vaccine and that of the Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) authorizes the use of drugs in the EU, although in exceptional cases countries can approve certain substances on their territory.

The AstraZeneca vaccine may be imported when the EU authorizes its use, the Hungarian Interior Minister announced yesterday, Gergely Goulash.

The government of the ultranationalist Viktor Orbán has criticized the EU several times for the slow supply of the already authorized vaccines, Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, which has served to justify its negotiations with drug producers in Russia and China.

The Central European country has so far immunized almost 140,000 people with the two types of drugs that have come from the EU and he has not used all the vaccines at his disposal.

According to a recent survey, published by the economic digital Napi.hu, only the 1% of Hungarians would be vaccinated with the Chinese vaccine, 2% with the Russian and 4% with the AstraZeneca, compared to 46% who trust the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary.
 

Sputnik V, questioned by scientists internationally for considering that it has not passed the same tests and controls as other, is free, voluntary and was developed by the Nikolai Gamaleya Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology with funding from the RDIF.

Hungarian authorities have confirmed more than 356 thousand infections by coronavirus, with 11,713 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University published through its website.