BERLIN, March 10. /TASS/. Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has a chance to be registered in the EU, Thomas Mertens, head of Germany's Standing Committee on Vaccination, said in an interview with the Rheinische Post newspaper published on Wednesday.
"It is a good vaccine that will probably be authorized in the EU at some point. Russian researchers have a lot of experience with vaccinations," he said.
The Lancet medical journal published an article reviewing results of the third stage of Sputnik V’s clinical trials in early February. The article notes the highly positive performance of the jab, putting it among the most safe and efficient in the world. The shot efficacy stands at 91.6%, while the result for those aged over 60 is even higher, 91.8%. Moreover, 98% of all volunteers who had the Russian vaccine had the antibody response.
Germany has repeatedly stated that on the whole, it is ready to use vaccines produced outside of the EU, namely Sputnik V. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Health Minister Jens Spahn named the main condition for using the vaccine: it must be certified by the European regulatory body.