The European Union needs to purchase Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) completes its review, former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Austria’s ORF 2 TV channel.
"We should purchase the vaccine when the European Medicines Agency competes its review of Sputnik. Virus knows no borders. There is a need to use effective vaccines regardless of their country of origin, if they are available," Juncker pointed out.
According to him, it’s wrong to reject a vaccine only because it is made in Russia.
On March 4, the EMA announced the start of a rolling review of Sputnik V, aimed at assessing its "compliance with the usual EU standards for effectiveness, safety and quality."
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said earlier that Vienna was considering the possibility of approving Sputnik V at the national level and the final decision depended on how long the EMA’s registration process would take. Kurz said on March 31 following a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lyubinsky that Moscow and Vienna were in the final stage before a deal on vaccine purchases.
