European manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines need to stop shipments to other countries outside of the European Union, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis stated during the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) summit
KRAKOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2021) European manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines need to stop shipments to other countries outside of the European Union, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis stated during the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) summit.
"Manufacturers need to stop shipping vaccines outside the EU. We have to speed up vaccinations if we want to save the lives of our citizens," Babis said.
Vaccine delivery shortages have slowed down inoculation campaigns across the EU, forcing some countries to halt their programs.
"Vaccines are now of utmost importance. We have paid manufacturers in advance. Unfortunately, the shipments are delayed," Czech prime minister added.
The situation with delays and curbs in vaccine deliveries has raised a wave of criticism and prompted European countries to have a closer look at alternatives. Hungary became first in EU to approve the Russian Sputnik V and Chinese Sinopharm vaccines, neither of which are registered by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The first shipment of Sputnik V arrived in the country on February 2.
