Prognosis
Slovakia Unable to Call Russian Vaccine Safe Due to Lack of Data
- Clash over vaccine brought down Slovak premier last month
- Ruling party says country must ask Russia for more data
Vials of the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine.
Photographer: Carolina Cabral Fernandez/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Slovakia’s medicines regulator is unable to recommend the use of a Russian coronavirus vaccine because it doesn’t have enough information to evaluate it, a senior state official said, a week after a spat over the shots brought down the prime minister.
“Because of our inability to obtain sufficient data from the producer of Sputnik V, there is no other choice but to again request reliable and verifiable evidence that the vaccine is safe and effective,” Janka Bitto Ciganikova, the head of parliament’s health-care committee, said in a statement.