09:32 01/09/2021
Slovakia on Tuesday banned the use of the Russian vaccine against coronavirus Sputnik V.
Health Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Eliasova said over 18,500 Slovak citizens had already been vaccinated with the vaccine.
In March, Slovakia purchased 200,000 doses of Sputnik V, becoming the second member state of the European Union, after Hungary, to supply such.
Sputnik V is not approved by the European Medicines Agency - EMA.
The four vaccines approved by this agency are: Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
The acquisitions of Sputnik V have caused great political reactions in Slovakia, while the demand for this vaccine has been low.
Three members of the four-party ruling coalition have been opposed to the acquisitions.
The controversy led to the resignation of then-Prime Minister Igor Matovic and Health Minister Marek Krajci.
The restructured government, headed by Edward Heger, was formed on April 1st.
In an interview with AFP in June, Heger said that Slovakia's decision to buy the Russian vaccine was made mainly due to supply pressure at the time and that it would not be repeated.
"The decision was taken under the strong influence, perhaps the strongest influence of the pandemic. We needed many vaccines", said Heger.
Slovakia, a country of 5.4 million people, has registered a total of 394,923 cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began last spring.
Of them, 12,548 patients have lost their lives./REL
Source of information @TvKlan: Read more at: www.botasot.al
