VIENNA, March 31. /TASS/. The possibility of delivering Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for international organizations in Vienna within Austria’s possible purchase of that vaccine is presently under consideration, Russia’s Ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lyubinsky said on Wednesday.
"The possibility of Sputnik V deliveries at the request of Vienna[-based] international organizations is being scrutinized," Lyubinsky wrote on his Facebook page.
Apart from that, the vaccination of employees of the Russian diplomatic missions to Austria is being prepared. The ambassador hopes that it will be organized at the Russian embassy in Vienna.
Earlier in the day, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz held a working meeting with Russian Ambassador Dmitry Lyubinsky and announced that Moscow and Vienna were in the final stage of negotiation before the purchase of the Russian vaccine. Austria might order Sputnik V as early as next week, Kurz emphasized.
On March 30, the Austrian federal chancellor’s office said that Vienna was in talks with Moscow about the purchase of one million doses of Sputnik V to vaccinate 500,000 people, which might be delivered in three tranches - in April, May and June 2021. Austria and Russia inked a non-disclosure agreement that binds Austria to keep information when the confidential documents are exchanged and to provide access to the information about the vaccine by the two countries’ health ministries.
Austria launched a vaccination campaign in December 2020, using the Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.