Slovakia has sold most of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines to its country of origin, Slovakia’s health ministry said on Friday, as public interest remains low after months of government hesitation over the use of a product that has not been approved by European regulators.
Slovakia sent back 160,000 of the 200,000 doses imported in March, at a price of $ 9.95 per dose, at the same price as the original purchase, a ministry spokeswoman said.
Slovakia’s adventure with Sputnik turned into a political fiasco for then-Prime Minister Igor Matovic, who bought the vaccines without telling his coalition partners and because of their opposition.
He was forced to resign due to the political crisis, but returned to the finance cabinet after the reshuffle.
The Slovak Medicines Agency SUKL declined to recommend the use of Sputnik V, citing insufficient data from the manufacturer.
Eventually, the government allowed Sputnik V to be used last month for those who prefer it to other EU-registered vaccines, but the public interest was far below the amount available.
The health ministry said 10,500 Slovaks received their first dose of the vaccine on Friday, and another 8,000 were waiting in line for a two-dose drug.
The government closed registration on June 30 and announced last week that it plans to sell or transfer vaccines that are about to expire.
Initially, Matovich planned to purchase 2 million doses of vaccines at a time when Western-made vaccines were slowly arriving in a country severely affected by the winter pandemic.
Slovakia is the second EU country after Hungary to use the Russian vaccine.