ST. PETERSBURG, September 1. /TASS/. The European Commission together with several Western European countries are politicizing the vaccine recognition issue, particularly regarding Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus jab, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview with TASS.
"The fact is that the European Commission and some Western European governments and the international liberal mainstream media made a huge ideological and geopolitical issue out of vaccines. This is what we [Hungary] totally reject because for us vaccines are matters of saving lives of the people. And since we were able to buy Sputnik we have ensured the life and the health of one million Hungarians," he said.
"The fact that Sputnik has been approved in Hungary is based on the European regulated procedure. That’s why not allowing, for example, Hungarians who have been vaccinated by Sputnik to travel as freely as those who have been vaccinated by vaccines approved by EMA is a politically motivated decision. Because if this issue had been considered on a professional basis, there should be no problem," underlined the minister.
According to him, Hungarian experts carried out a thorough and long procedure for Sputnik V to be registered in the country. "That’s very important that according to the European Union regulation there are two ways how a vaccination can be approved in the EU," Szijjarto noted. "First, by an ordinary procedure conducted by EMA. That’s the normal case, a normal and widely used case. But there is a second option as well. I mean, it’s not widely known but in the European regulation next to this one there’s a second option. The second option says that in case of emergency, which is definitely the case, the national regulator can authorize vaccines on an emergency basis as well. That’s what we have done in Hungary."
Sputnik V in Hungary
Peter Szijjarto added that Hungary would be ready to consider buying more doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine if there was a need for it, the jab performed well in the country.
"If we are out from the current, let’s say, storage facilities which is once again 8 million doses, then we would definitely be ready to negotiate because Sputnik performs very good data in Hungary," he said when asked if Budapest is willing to purchase the Russian shot for revaccination purposes.
According to him, almost one million Hungarians have been vaccinated. "Our experience and the data showing the post-vaccination incidence is very favorable from the perspective of Sputnik," Szijjarto pointed out. "So, once we are out of our storages, we definitely would be ready and happy [to discuss this issue] but currently it is not on the agenda because of the number of vaccines at the disposal already."
In November 2020, Hungary became the first country in the EU to receive Sputnik V samples for trials. In February 2021, the Russian shot was authorized for use by the Hungarian healthcare regulator which launched its use for the inoculation campaign in the country.
WHO approval of Sputnik V
Hungarian Minister hopes that the World Health Organization (WHO) will soon conclude the procedure for Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
"What I hope is that the procedure of WHO should be concluded sometimes, of course, I can’t say when but hopefully soon," he said.
"You know, it was really telling, it was real evidence that the EU and the European Commission still consider the issue of vaccines as a matter of ideology that even after WHO had approved Sinopharm, which is a global approval, even Sinopharm is not being considered in many countries on the same level as those vaccines which are approved by EMA [the European Medicines Agency]," the minister noted. "If you put this forward, WHO gives wider coverage than EMA."