A health worker holds a vial of the Russian vaccine in Moscow on January 18.ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP
Hungary has approved the emergency use of the Sputnik V vaccine and has become the first country in the European Union to give the green light to the Russian drug.
With the agreement to purchase doses for a million people, the government of the ultra-conservative Víktor Orbán, which has harshly criticized Brussels for its "slowness" in the distribution of immunizations purchased in the joint basket, breaks ranks with the EU and increases pressure on common strategy.
Sputnik V, which has already received authorization in 12 other countries apart from Russia, does not have the approval of the European Medicines Agency;
can only be put in Hungary.
Víktor Orbán, an ultra-nationalist politician who has criticized liberal ideology and has become the EU's wayward partner, has very good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is joined by other trade agreements.
The Hungarian leader mobilizes one year before an election that may be key with the purchase of Sputnik V. In addition, Budapest is negotiating with China the acquisition of Sinopharm.
A strategy similar to the one Mexico has started.
This is the first time in years that Orbán, who has been in power for four terms, has seen the foundations of his government shake due to the intention of the main opposition parties to unite;
also because of the forecast of an economic recession of 6.4% for 2020 that he wants to overcome this year.
This Friday, the Hungarian Prime Minister charged Brussels again for "the delays" in authorizing the vaccine produced by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, which also received the green light in Hungary on Thursday.
"Hungarians do not need an explanation, but vaccines," Orbán said on Hungarian state radio.
“Our citizens are not going to die because Brussels is slow to buy the vaccine.
We need the vaccine because this means life ”, he remarked.
The EU agrees to isolate the areas of maximum spread of the virus
Hungary, with 9.8 million inhabitants, accumulates 11,700 deaths from covid-19.
Like its eastern neighbors, the second wave of coronavirus has also hit it hard.
Although it has been falling from the 6,000 infected registered last month to less than 2,000.
Some 139,000 have already been vaccinated with the doses received from Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna (only 165,000 have arrived of the 4.4 million that correspond to Hungary from the joint European purchase).
Hungary's National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition, which has been doing its own testing of the Russian vaccine since last month, says it has granted a six-month authorization for Sputnik, which could be extended for another six months.
Batches of the main Russian vaccine, the first to be registered in the world, developed by the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow, will start arriving in Hungary in a few weeks.
The immunization, based on the human cold adenovirus, consists of two doses (with two different vectors) and has an efficacy of just over 90%, according to preliminary results, although its studies have not yet been published.
Sputink V will be distributed in three stages, as explained by the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, visiting Moscow, where he met with his counterpart and other senior Russian officials and has finalized the agreement.
"This decision is very important, as it shows that the safety and efficacy of the [Russian] vaccine are highly appreciated by our partners in Hungary," Kirill Dmitriev, director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said on Thursday. Sovereign state fund that has financed the development and commercialization of Sputnik V. Russia relies on the drug to bring Russian science back to the fore and is also employing it in its geostrategy and diplomacy.
Hungary joins Argentina and Belarus (which have already started vaccinating), Venezuela, Serbia and other countries that have already approved the main Russian vaccine on an emergency basis - the Eurasian giant is developing two more.
Also on Thursday, the Arab Emirates gave the green light to the vaccine, which has already reached preliminary sales agreements with countries such as Bolivia, Brazil and Mexico.
Latin America is one of the large markets on which Sputnik V is focused, which wants to take advantage of its cheaper price - less than $ 20 for the two doses - than its main competitors, the injection of Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna - between $ 14 and $ 18, per dose - minor logistical difficulties and also shortages.
However, Russia faces manufacturing problems to meet its objectives and has already outsourced most of the drug's production to its foreign markets in countries such as India, China or South Korea.
The RDIF has avoided specifying, however, where the doses that will go to Hungary will be produced.
Vaccines made in Russia were sent to Argentina.
The authorities say that in the Eurasian country (145 million inhabitants) almost two million people have been vaccinated, although regional reports show a lower figure.
European way
With its authorization in Hungary, Sputnik V sets foot in the EU, where it aspires to sell to more countries.
This week, the RDIF requested scientific advice from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
A step prior to the request for registration of the vaccine, according to an EMA spokesperson in an email.
Sputnik V could also have good cards in other EU countries.
This Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel commented that she had offered German support to develop it and that if it had the approval of the EMA for its use, they could also participate in its production.
"Beyond all the political differences [with Russia], which are currently large, we can work together in a pandemic, in a humanitarian area," Merkel said.
Information about the coronavirus
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