Slovakia Not Interested in Russian Coronavirus Vaccine for the Moment

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - Slovakia is not interested in the Russian vaccine against the novel coronavirus at the moment, as it falls short on several criteria, Slovak Infectologists Association President Pavol Jarcuska explained to TASR on Wednesday. The vaccine titled Sputnik-V was registered on August 11. "The vaccine didn't pose much of a surprise. It's a standard adenovirus vaccine, similar to a large degree to the one developed by the consortium centred around Oxford University and a firm called AstraZeneca. However, it employs a less standard approach," claimed Jarcuska, adding that in order for a vaccine to attract interest from Slovakia it must either be authorised or registered by the European Medicines Agency, fully registered or have completed three phases of clinical trials. "The Russian vaccine meets none of these three criteria." According to Jarcuska, the Russian vaccine might be of similar quality to those made by producers in Western Europe, but it has passed only the second phase of clinical trials to date. The WHO showed restraint in its response to Russia's Tuesday (August 11) announcement that its vaccine against the novel coronavirus is ready over concerns that the vaccine's clinical trials haven't been properly completed. Russian representatives dismiss doubts about the safety of the vaccine, calling them co-ordinated media attacks aimed at discrediting the Russian Federation. mf/mcs