The Russian vaccine Sputnik V, from an emergency remedy to the questioning of its composition

Russian vaccines Sputnik V They arrived in Slovakia in March as an emergency remedy when the country led coronavirus deaths in Europe, but six weeks later they are still not in use as health authorities they openly doubt its composition.

The Slovak government announced in March the purchase of two million doses of Sputnik to speed up vaccination in the country of five million people, which has the fourth highest death rate by covid in Europe. Last month was the second on the continent in number of deaths by population.

200,000 doses arrived in the country in March and some of them were analyzed by the National Drug Control Office (SUKL), that you must give the green light before they can be used in Slovakia.

This central European country thus became the second partner of the European Union (EU) to receive Russian vaccines, but unlike Hungary, where they began to be administered without problem, Sputnik V met the doubts of experts. Slovaks.

Doubts

Slovak drug regulator questioned the composition of the drug, suggesting serious quality problems in the manufacture, the drug not having the same characteristics as that analyzed by the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet.

In this magazine, a study claimed that Sputnik V was 91.6% effective against covid-19, an endorsement of the vaccine that has been used by Russia to improve its international image.

SUKL argued that the consignments imported from Sputnik “they did not have the same characteristics and properties” than the version of the vaccine reviewed by The Lancet.

“A definitive opinion on the benefits and risks of the Sputnik V vaccine is not possible because a lot of manufacturer data is missing, drug ampoules are inconsistent and there has been no way to compare vaccines in different clinical studies and countries, ”SUKL concluded.

The Slovak regulator came to this conclusion after ask for advice to twenty laboratories, public and private, which triggered indignation in Moscow, which called what happened “sabotage”.

“Sabotage”

Russian sovereign wealth fund responsible for vaccine demanded the return of doses sold claiming that Slovakia violated the bilateral contract by testing the drug in laboratories for the control of drugs not certified by the EU.

This Russian entity described this behavior as a “act of sabotage “ and called on the central European country to repeat the analyzes in laboratories approved by Brussels.

“All Sputnik V games they have the same quality and they are subject to strict quality control at the Gamaleya Institute, ”said the Russian Direct Investment Fund (FIDR).

The Slovak government has not ruled out the use of Sputnik, but you need the green light from your drug regulator, as explained Tuesday the Minister of Health, Vladimír Lengvarský, who underlined that the reluctance of the SUKL is “for technical and safety reasons”.

Political storm

The purchase of the Russian vaccine triggered a political earthquake that continues to shake the fragile Slovak coalition government. End of March the then prime minister resignedIgor Matovic, who decided to buy the vaccines without consulting the three other parties gathered within the executive.

His government partners – conservatives, rightists and liberals – have demanded this will leave office because they had lost confidence in him and accused him of succumbing to a Russian “tool of hybrid warfare” and dividing the EU.

Matovic, leader of the populist Gente Corriente (OLaNo), has been replaced as head of government by a close associate, Eduard Heger, while he himself remains on the executive as Minister of Finance.

From the start, a great defender of Sputnik, the former head of government accused the SUKL of falling into political games not to certify the vaccine and thus allow their immediate employment in the country.

Health Minister Lengvarský stresses that his country will try to obtain a positive opinion on the Russian vaccine from certified laboratories and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), but without specifying when or how.

Matovic, for his part, is aiming to get positive references to Sputnik from experts in Hungary, where Russian drugs are widely used, which Budapest has opened up to doing.

Source: EFE

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