MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Wednesday, March 3, 2021 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Tuesday, March 2): NEW POSITIVE PCR TESTS: 2,077 Positive PCR tests in total: 311,002 NEW POSITIVE ANTIGEN TESTS: 2,552 Positive antigen tests in total: 287,329 NEW DEATHS: 118 Deaths in total: 7,388 BRATISLAVA - Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) has approved the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to fight coronavirus in Slovakia, the Health Ministry announced on its website, adding that its therapeutic use has been permitted until the end of August. "An attending physician takes over full responsibility for the therapy with an unregistered medicine," reads the vaccine-related permit signed by the health minister. BRATISLAVA - The Slovak Medical Chamber (SLK) on Tuesday welcomed the use of the unregistered Russian Sputnik V vaccine in Slovakia. "The vaccine is the only possible solution and the only way out of this hell," SLK president Marian Kollar told a news conference on Tuesday. As a doctor he doesn't look at where a vaccine comes from, but whether or not it's effective. The lack of other vaccines and the critical situation in which patients have found themselves has persuaded SLK of the need for the Sputnik vaccine. If the vaccine saves at least one human life, Kollar views it as the right move. He stressed that everyone who gets any vaccine must be informed about the possible risks, however. BRATISLAVA - Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) announced on Tuesday that his ministry is set to change the vaccination strategy so that people aged 60-70 will be allowed to be inoculated with the vaccine from AstraZeneca, while people over 70 will be allowed to receive the jabs from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. At the same time, the minister claimed that the list of those waiting to be vaccinated will significantly change as of Monday, explaining that people will be inoculated based only on their age. This came after a number of young people who work as teachers, taxi and public transport drivers were among those who were inoculated last weekend. Speaking regarding vaccination with the jab from AstraZeneca, Krajci noted that he advises the elderly to consult this option with a doctor. BRATISLAVA - The extra-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia (PS) party has called for Igor Matovic's (OLaNO) replacement in the prime ministerial post or for a fundamental reconstruction of the Government. PS has also launched a signature campaign on the internet in which it invites people to express their agreement with the prime minister's replacement. The party doesn't want the referendum initiated by Smer-SD and Voice-SD to be the only alternative, which is why it's launched its own internet campaign. BRATISLAVA - MP Tomas Valasek is leaving not only the coalition but also the For the People party, TASR learnt on Tuesday. The MP cited the procurement of the unregistered Russian Sputnik V vaccine as his reason. "I don't want to be part of a coalition that is prepared to inoculate people with an uncertified vaccine. The For the People party sees things the same way, but unlike me it's prepared to remain in the coalition," he claimed. Valasek plans to join forces with other former For the People party MP Miroslav Kollar in parliamentary opposition. "We'll hold talks on how to serve in Parliament as a dignified, professional opposition untainted by graft or fascism," he told TASR. BRATISLAVA - Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok (a SaS nominee) will ask the top three constitutional officials (President Zuzana Caputova, Parliamentary Chair Boris Kollar and Premier Igor Matovic) for a meeting on Tuesday in connection with the circumstances under which the Russian Sputnik V vaccine was imported into Slovakia and with whether Slovakia's foreign-political orientation has been put in question. Korcok stated that the manner in which the first batch of Sputnik doses was transported to Slovakia as well as the way in which it was personally welcomed by the prime minister raise questions. "They need to be answered. I must be clear about whether we"re still following the foreign-political orientation we"d claimed we would," said the minister, noting that he"s not considering resigning for the time being. BRATISLAVA - Employees of public transport companies across Slovakia are ready to announce a 'strike alert' if the state doesn"t fully compensate individual public transport providers for the losses that they have suffered due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, TASR learnt on Tuesday from trade unions representing the employees of public transport companies in Bratislava, Kosice and Presov. The announcement is meant to be an expression of disagreement with the Transport Ministry, which stated recently that it neither has any available resources for this purpose nor any legal option for providing public transport companies with financial aid. BRATISLAVA - An investigator has lodged a motion to press charges against former Prosecutor-General Dobroslav T. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons], TASR learnt from Police Corps Presidium spokesperson Michal Slivka on Tuesday. The investigator came to the conclusion that the former prosecutor-general failed to carry out his legal duty to prosecute crimes of which he was aware. He has therefore proposed that Dobroslav T. should be charged with misusing the powers of a public official. ko