The Latest: EU won't order Russia's Sputnik V virus vaccine
Germany’s health minister says the European Union won’t order Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and his country will hold bilateral talks with Russia on whether an order makes sense
April 8, 2021, 9:53 AM
12 min read
A health worker collects nasal swab sample from a worker in a local entertainment venue area where a new cluster of COVID-19 infections were found in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, April 8, 2021. Thailand has confirmed its first local cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K., raising the likelihood that it is facing a new wave of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
BERLIN — Germany’s health minister says the European Union won’t order Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and his country will hold bilateral talks with Russia on whether an order makes sense.
Health Minister Jens Spahn told WDR public radio that the EU’s executive Commission said Wednesday it won’t place orders for Sputnik V on member countries’ behalf, as it did with other manufacturers.
Spahn said Thursday he told his fellow EU health ministers that Germany “will talk bilaterally to Russia, first of all about when what quantities could come.” He said “to really make a difference in our current situation, the deliveries would have to come in the next two to four or five months already.”
Otherwise, he said, Germany would have “more than enough vaccine” already.
Spahn reiterated that, as far as Germany is concerned, Sputnik V must be cleared for use by the European Medicines Agency, and “for that, Russia must deliver data.”
On Wednesday, Bavaria’s governor said his administration was signing a preliminary contract to get 2.5 million doses of Sputnik V, probably in July, if the shot is cleared by the EMA.
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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— UK advises limiting AstraZeneca in under-30s amid clot worry
— Summoning seniors: Big new push to vaccinate older Americans
— Brazil’s Bolsonaro ignores calls for lockdown to slow virus
— French children, parents and teachers battle with internet connection problems after an abrupt nationwide switch back to online learning
— Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey says the state is shifting to personal responsibility in the fight against COVID-19.
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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
KAMPALA, Uganda — The head of the Africa CDC says his group is opposed to the issuance of COVID-19 vaccine passports until there is equitable access to shots across the world.
John Nkengasong told a briefing Thursday that the idea is “inappropriate” while Africa lags behind in vaccine acquisition.
“Our position is very simple. That any imposition of a vaccination passport will create huge inequities and will further exacerbate them,” he said. “We are already in a situation where we don’t have vaccines, and it will be extremely unfortunate that countries impose travel requirement of immunization certificates whereas the rest of the world has not had the chance to have access to vaccines.”
Vaccine passports are documentation showing travelers have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus. Technology companies and travel-related trade groups in some wealthy countries are developing and testing out such passports to encourage travel.
But only 2% of all vaccine doses administered globally have been in Africa, according to the World Health Organization.
The Africa CDC warned last week that the continent of 1.3 billion people is unlikely to meet its vaccination targets amid supply delays from a key manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India.
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates —The Gulf Arab kingdom of Bahrain has announced that starting next month, residents who can prove that they’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus will be able to attend gyms, indoor restaurants, mass sporting events, conferences, spas and cinemas.
