PRAGUE, February 16. /TASS/. Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic said on Tuesday it is time to begin talks with Russia on supplies of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, TASR news agency reported.

"All leading Slovak immunologists, epidemiologists and specialists in infectious diseases believe that because of the catastrophic delays in supplies of EU-registered vaccines [against the coronavirus infection] the government must begin talks with the Russian side on supplies of Sputnik V. It is a vaccine with perfect efficacy. In a situation we are in, millions of Slovak residents want to use this vaccine," the agency quoted him as saying.

According to the Slovak prime minister, it is inadmissible to be guided by geopolitical interests and ideological considerations when choosing vaccines. The top priority consideration, in his words, should be public health interests.

According to the agency, the country’s authorities are expected to take a decision on purchasing the Sputnik V vaccine within days. Registration with the national pharmaceutical regulator will be enough to use the vaccine in Slovakia.

On August 11, 2020, Russia registered the world’s first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. The vaccine, dubbed Sputnik V, was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Health Ministry. It is a vector vaccine based on the human adenovirus. Mass production of the vaccine was launched on August 15, 2020.

On February 2, 2020, The Lancet, a world-acclaimed medical journal, published the results of the third phase of Sputnik V clinical tests. The vaccine has proved to be among the world’s safest and most efficient. Thus, its efficacy is estimated at 91.6% and 91.8% among volunteers older than 60. Ninety-eight percent of volunteers developed antibodies to the coronavirus. All developed cell-mediated immunity. Immunity after vaccination proved to be by 1.3-1.5% higher than after the disease.