Austrian Medical Chamber Recommends Procurement Of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine

VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2021) The Austrian Medical Chamber on Tuesday recommended the government purchase the Russian-made Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to end the shortage of shots, Thomas Szekeres, the president of the association, said.

Earlier in the day, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that the decisive factors in approving a COVID-19 vaccine must be its efficacy and safety rather than the country where it was developed, adding that Vienna and Moscow had been in talks over the vaccines since February. Austria is considering purchasing Sputnik V in April-June, he added.

"We support the initiative to purchase Sputnik V for Austria. It is about daily vaccinations. We cannot afford pauses in vaccinations," Mahrer said.

He congratulated the Chancellor for the latter's achievements in negotiations with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which oversees the vaccine's exports.

"I would like to personally congratulate Chancellor Kurz on this interim result of the negotiations and recommend the purchase," Szekeres said following Kurz's statement.

Kurz discussed the possible procurement of Sputnik V with Russian President Vladimir Putin in late February. On March 5, the Austrian chancellor met with Kirill Dmitriev, the chief executive of the RDIF.

In February, peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet published an interim analysis from Phase 3 clinical trial of Sputnik V, showing its 91.6-percent efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The vaccine has already been approved in 58 countries.