Matovic: Slovakia to Buy 2 Mn Doses of Sputnik V

Matovic: Slovakia to Buy 2 Mn Doses of Sputnik V

Kosice, March 1 (TASR) – Slovakia will procure two millions doses of Russian Sputnik V vaccine, Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) reported from Kosice Airport, where the first batch was delivered on Monday.

Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) confirmed that the inoculation will be carried out strictly on a voluntary basis and not limited by age. The vaccination with Sputnik V is slated to start in two weeks at the very latest.

Prime Minister Matovic hopes that the Russian supplier will observe deadlines and deliver the contracted quantities of one million doses in the next month and another million over May and June. “This will afford Slovakia the opportunity to speed up the pace of its vaccination by more than 40 percent,” he added.

The vaccine, set to be stored and distributed from Sarisske Michalany (Presov region), will be used in Slovakia under an exemption status granted to it as an unregistered medication by the Health Ministry.

The people interested to be inoculated with Sputnik will need to provide their consent in writing to confirm that they are aware of the fact that Sputnik hasn’t been cleared by the European Medication Agency. Krajci added that there are a number of countries where Sputnik V has been registered, however.