The Hungarian government announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement to buy up to two million doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, although it has not yet been authorized by European health authorities.
Read also: Coronavirus: why the Russian vaccine "Sputnik V" is not leading the planetary race
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, visiting Moscow, announced the signing of the contract in a video posted on his Facebook account, citing "
large quantities
".
"
We will have access to batches making it possible to vaccinate a million citizens,
" he then said during a press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, according to statements cited by the national agencies of the two countries.
Deliveries will be made in three stages, with 300,000 vaccines at two doses in the first month, half a million in the second month and 200,000 in the third month, for a total “
potential of two million doses
”, explained Peter Szijjarto.
The announcement comes as the Hungarian pharmaceutical authorities this week gave the green light to the use of Sputnik V, amid criticism from Budapest of the "
slowness
" of the vaccine approval process by the European Agency drugs (EMA).
The national authorities can urgently approve the distribution of a product not authorized by the EMA but then bear full responsibility.
It now remains to wait for the final opinion of the Health Authority, a process that can take "
several weeks
", she told AFP.
However, public skepticism will have to be overcome: the Russian vaccine is preferred by less than 2% of Hungarians questioned in recent surveys, far behind the two products currently authorized in the European Union (EU) (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna ).