Russia's Sputnik V backers tell Slovakia to return vaccine doses, arrange more tests

The fund behind Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said on Thursday that Slovakia should return doses received from Russia due to contract violations, after Slovakia's drug agency raised issues with the shot.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, said on the shot's official Twitter page that it had sent a letter requesting the doses be returned.

It also requested that a batch be sent to a specially-certified laboratory for further checks, after Slovakia's drug agency said earlier that the shots it had received differed from those reviewed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and medical journal The Lancet.