MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. Secretary General of the European Ombudsman Institute (EOI) Joseph Siegel spoke in favor of the approval of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the European Union.

"We want to accept in full the situation with Sputnik. So that Sputnik should be accepted <...> by all states of the European Union," Joseph Siegel told the International Scientific and Practical Conference ‘Human rights protection in Eurasia: exchange of best practices of ombudsmen".

"Sputnik is the COVID vaccine like AstraZeneca and Pfizer and it’s important for people to have the possibility to choose the vaccine," the secretary general said. "We also see it’s not an American business or any vaccine monopoly, it’s about helping people to have the possibility to get vaccinated," he stressed.

"It cannot be any disagreement or restriction of fundamental rights and freedoms and people should decide on their own if they prefer AstraZeneca or another one, or Sputnik," he went on to say.

The approval of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in the EU is being discussed in detail, Joseph Siegel reiterated. "We hope that we will finish this agenda next time," he went on to say.

Russia’s Sputnik V jab has not yet received the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) green light for use in the European Union. The European Commission’s position has remained unchanged since the start of the EU coronavirus vaccine passport in early July. Member countries which use Sputnik V, such as Hungary, have the right to issue European digital vaccination certificates for it. Other EU members are free to accept these documents on its own initiative.

Sputnik V vaccine

Russia was the world’s first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, on August 11, 2020, and applied for its registration in the European Union and with the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the authoritative medical journal The Lancet, Sputnik V’s efficacy is 91.6% The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on March 4 it had begun the Sputnik V evaluation procedures to look at its compliance with the EU efficacy, safety and quality standards. So far, Sputnik V has been registered in 70 world nations with an overall population of four billion.