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Recognition of San Marino’s COVID certificates doesn’t mean Sputnik V approval

Sputnik V supplied to San Marino began in February and by now the bulk of its population have received both shots of the Russian vaccine

BRUSSELS, August 3. /TASS/. The European Commission’s decision to consider COVID-19 certificates issued by San Marino, where Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine was widely used, equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate doesn’t mean the authorization of this vaccine in the European Union and it is up to each member country to decide whether to recognize such certificates on its territory or not, a Commission official told TASS on Tuesday.

"The Commission does not approve any vaccines through a COVID certificate equivalence decision. The vaccination certificates of San Marino will be accepted under the same conditions as EU Digital COVID Certificates for the Sputnik vaccine: It is up to each Member State to decide whether it waives restrictions for people that have certificates of vaccination with vaccines that do not have EU marketing authorization," he said.

Sputnik V has not yet been granted an authorization of the European Medical Agency (EMA) for the use in the European Union. The European Commission’s position concerning the Russian vaccine has not changed after the launch of the EU COVID-19 certificates system in early July. EU countries using the Sputnik V vaccine, such as Hungary, have the right to issue EU Digital COVID Certificates for this vaccine but other member nations can either accept these documents or not at their discretion.

The European Commission on August 2 agreed to recognize COVID certificates issued in the Vatican City State and San Marino are equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate.

Sputnik V supplied to San Marino began in February and by now the bulk of its population have received both shots of the Russian vaccine.

With a territory of 61 square kilometers and a population of slightly more than 30,000, San Marino is one of the world’s smallest countries and the world’s oldest constitutional republic. The official language of the country is Italian and its official currency is euro. However, the republic is not a member of the European Union and is formally independent of it, so it can take decisions about the use of drugs and medicines without any approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The republic opted to buy the Russian vaccine amid problems with vaccine deliveries from Italy.