PRAGUE, June 12. /TASS/. Slovakia, which received the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on March 1 and began using it on June 7, does not plan to purchase further batches of it, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivan Korcok said in an interview with French TV channel France-24.

According to him, the Slovak authorities are not planning new purchases of Sputnik V. There was not as significant interest in receiving vaccinations with the Russian drug as expected among the republic’s residents.

At the same time, the Foreign Minister admitted that the residents of Slovakia are generally losing interest in vaccination, regardless of what vaccines they are offered.

Sputnik V in Slovakia

Vaccination with Sputnik V began in Slovakia on Monday. From Saturday, vaccinations with the Russian drug will be available in all eight regions of the republic.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the total number of coronavirus cases in Slovakia, with a population of about 5.5 mln citizens, has reached 390,893 people. Meanwhile, 12,433 residents died from coronavirus complications.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.