San Marino Considers Politicization of COVID-19 Vaccines Unacceptable - Foreign Minister
San Marino stands against the use of COVID-19 vaccines as a political tool, as it is in the interests of all to ensure that vaccines are available to every citizen, San Marinese Foreign Minister Luca Beccari said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2021) San Marino stands against the use of COVID-19 vaccines as a political tool, as it is in the interests of all to ensure that vaccines are available to every citizen, San Marinese Foreign Minister Luca Beccari said on Monday.
"San Marino is a state known for its neutrality. This is exactly the ideal case where we should talk about neutrality. The vaccine itself cannot be the subject of any speculation. There should be no politicization here. Scientists and researchers should talk," Beccari said at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
San Marino's foreign minister said that use of the vaccine should be more expansive, adding that "the sooner the whole world is able to provide its citizens with a vaccine, the better off everyone will be.
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His Russian counterpart expressed hope that "those who are really interested in organizing cooperation to protect people's health and lives will prevail, including the EU," saying that Russia is willing to further develop professional contacts between the Russian Ministry of Health and the European Medicines Agency.
San Marino received the Russia-made Sputnik V vaccine in February and announced the closure of its designated COVID-19 department at a local hospital in May. A joint study by San Marino's government and Italy's Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases revealed that more than 99% of more than 5,000 study participants developed antibodies after the second dose of Sputnik V, according to the representative of San Marino's Institute for Social Security.