Hungary Becomes First EU Country to Authorise Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine

22/01/2021

by Sergei Gridnev
Jan. 21, 2021

Bloomberg earlier reported that the Hungarian drug regulator had issued a recommendation to authorise the use of the Sputnik V vaccine in the country.

The head of the Hungarian prime minister’s administration, Gergely Gulyas, on Thursday announced that Hungary had approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 and the AstraZeneca vaccine, Reuters reported.

The agency added, citing Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Hungarian prime minister’s administration that Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto will travel to Moscow on Thursday to discuss the coronavirus vaccine.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) later confirmed the decision, saying that Hungary was the first country in the European Union to authorise Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.

“The Russian Direct Investment Fund [RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund] announces the Sputnik V vaccine has been approved by the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition of Hungary (OGYÉI). Thus Hungary has become the first country in the European Union to authorise the use of Sputnik V. The vaccine was approved under the emergency use authorisation procedure”, the RDIF said in a press release.

Last week, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev said that Russia will submit its Sputnik V vaccine for EU approval next month.

According to Dmitriev, the vaccine will be registered in nine other countries this month and will be produced in seven nations. He estimated that the fund will arrange export deals with interested parties over the next six to nine months and expects the vaccine ultimately to have about 25 percent of the global market share.

In August, Russia became the first country to register a COVID-19 vaccine, which was named Sputnik V. The clinical trials of the jab have shown an efficacy rate of more than 90 percent.