Chief of Slovak diplomacy Ivan Korčok (SaS nominee) believes that the presence of Prime Minister Igor Matovič (OLaNO) at Košice Airport to personally welcome the delivery of the first batches of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to Slovakia on Monday was less than appropriate. He pointed out that it's not the origin of the vaccine that matters but whether or not it has been properly registered in the EU. "To this day, Sputnik V hasn't even applied for registration and, therefore, granting this very unregistered vaccine such political attention is not seemly," he claimed. On Monday Prime Minister Igor Matovič (OLaNO) announced that Slovakia will procure two millions doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine by June, which will be used on a voluntary basis with special permission granted by the Slovak Health Ministry.
The Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, a junior member of the governing coalition, would welcome it if the Russian Sputnik V vaccine were either approved by the European Medicine Agency or cleared by the Slovak State Drugs Control Institute before being administered to the Slovak public, party spokesperson Ondrej Sprlak told the TASR press agency. A similar view was expressed by another junior member of the current governing coalition For the people (Za ludi), who lost a second MP in two weeks over disagreements over the style in which the Government and mainly PM Matovič is managing the coronavirus epidemic.
The third coalition partner, Sme Rodina, has no objections to using Sputnik V: "We understand the criticism about this being an unorthodox solution, but other vaccines have fallen behind schedule. Furthermore, thousands of people have been vaccinated with Sputnik V across the world, which is why we hope that the people who have expressed interest in this vaccine will be enabled to use it," claimed party chairman Boris Kollar's spokesperson, Michaela Jurcová.
Opposition party Smer-SD welcomes the decision taken by Slovakia to procure the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, as the protection of lives and public health must come first before the playing of any geopolitical games, according to party spokesperson Ján Mažgut. The Hlas party, which split from Smer last year, regards the Russian Sputnik V vaccine as a solution of last resort, and that it's important it will be administered exclusively on a voluntary basis.
"The Russian Sputnik V vaccine has already been registered in 38 countries across the globe, and with it the people of Slovakia will be granted an option to acquire one of the best coronavirus vaccines in the world," reads a press release of the Russian Embassy in Slovakia. "We're confident that its use will help preserve the health of many people and contribute towards the restoration of normal life," reads the statement.
