France and Germany swoop to buy Russia’s Sputnik vaccine
France and Germany held discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin last night to supply doses of the country’s Sputnik Covid vaccine as suspicions over the Astrazeneca jab continue to proliferate across the continent.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a video call with the Russian premier to discuss “co-operation” over vaccine supplies.
It comes after fresh limitations on the Astrazeneca jab in several European countries over mounting fears about potential side effects.
German authorities last night suspended the use of the vaccine in under-60s after identifying 31 cases of blood clots known as cerebral sinus vein thrombosis. Among the cases, 29 involved women and nine resulted in death.
Merkel said it was not possible to ignore potential risks associated with the jab, despite its widespread approval from global health bodies including the European Medicines Agency.
Under-60s in Germany are still able to take the vaccine but only after “consultation with the doctor… and with an individual risk analysis”, ministers of Germany’s 16 states said in a statement last night.
Scientists said it was possible the blood clots were just chance events among the 2.7m doses of the Astrazeneca jab delivered in Germany so far.
Canada also restricted the use of the jab to under-55s yesterday, while France has yet to authorise its use for younger age groups.
Number 10 last night reiterate its support for the Astrazeneca vaccine, insisting it was “safe, effective and has already saved thousands of lives”.
“Over 30m people have already received their first dose of a vaccine, and we are on track to offer jabs to all over-50s by 15 April and all adults by the end of July,” said a Downing Street spokesperson.
Housing and communities secretary Robert Jenrick also voiced his support for the jab this morning, telling Sky News: “We’re 100% confident in the efficacy of the vaccine, that’s borne out by study after study, by our own independent world-class regulators
“Recent research, for example, by Public Health England [showed] that thousands of people’s lives have been saved since the start of this year alone thanks to our vaccine programme.”
Russia has already signed a deal with Swiss company Adienne Pharma & Biotech, allowing a subsidiary to begin producing the Sputnik vaccine in Italy by July.
Merkel said last week: “On the Russian vaccine, I have been of the opinion for some time that we should use any vaccine that has been approved by the European medicines regulator.”