New Slovak PM seeks to mollify Russia in vaccine row

The new Slovak prime minister sought to defuse a row with Russia over its COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, saying Slovakia needed to secure Sputnik V doses for its vaccination plan after Moscow angrily accused it of contract violations. Slovakia ordered 2 million doses of Sputnik V from Russia, of which 200,000 arrived on March 1.

The new Slovak prime minister sought to defuse a row with Russia over its COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, saying Slovakia needed to secure Sputnik V doses for its vaccination plan after Moscow angrily accused it of contract violations.

Slovakia ordered 2 million doses of Sputnik V from Russia, of which 200,000 arrived on March 1. The then Prime Minister Igor Matovic was forced to leave his post over the deal because had not informed his coalition partners, who opposed using a vaccine that has not been registered for use in the European Union. The uproar was compounded after a Slovak watchdog raised doubts about the shot, prompting Russia to call on Slovakia on Thursday to return its first shipment of 200,000 doses which arrived on March 1.

"Prime Minister Eduard Heger has an eminent interest in massive vaccination of citizens, a condition for attaining collective immunity," Heger's office said in a statement. "He also sees the interest of citizens in vaccination by Sputnik V vaccine. Therefore, it is the state's obligation to secure this vaccine in required quantity and quality."

Heger took over the prime minister's post last week in a cabinet reshuffle orchestrated to solve the crisis, with Matovic taking the finance ministry. The country of 5.5 million, which has ranked among the world's worst hit by the pandemic before an improvement in the past weeks, has not started using Sputnik V yet.

Slovakia's SUKL drug agency has said it could not make a conclusion on the vaccine because it had not received sufficient data. The Russian side accused Slovakia of contract violations and asked for the return of the vaccines. The government said Heger authorised Matovic to discuss ways to evaluate the vaccine with the Hungarian government, the first in the EU to use Sputnik V. Matovic was visiting Budapest on Friday.