Italy should work toward having Russia's Sputnik V vaccine approved within the European Union as soon as possible, Elia Rossi, the mayor of the Monte Grimano Terme commune in the Italian region of Marche, told Sputnik in an interview
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2021) Italy should work toward having Russia's Sputnik V vaccine approved within the European Union as soon as possible, Elia Rossi, the mayor of the Monte Grimano Terme commune in the Italian region of Marche, told Sputnik in an interview.
The official does not believe that Italy should give authorization to the vaccine without the approval of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), like Hungary or Slovakia did, but should rather play its role within the bloc.
"The rest comes later. Today we must guarantee everyone's right to safety and health. So Italy within the European Union must push to approve Sputnik V as soon as possible," Rossi said.
Earlier in the month, a number of EU countries suspended their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports about some of the vaccinated people developing blood clots. Later, the EMA announced that they had not found any evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine was associated with increased risks of blood clot events.
Nevertheless, the concerns about possible side effects managed to cause a slowing down of the vaccination process, which why, according to Rossi, now is the time to approve the use of Sputnik V, thus expanding the current vaccine portfolio.
"The news of the blockade of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe must make us think and must make the bloc rethink its vaccination strategy and try to complete the course of vaccination as soon as possible, also by using the Sputnik vaccine," Rossi added.
Noting the importance of Italian-Russian cooperation on the vaccine issue and with the will to demonstrate that the Italians living on the border with San Marino want to have access to the Russian vaccine, Rossi invited Russian Ambassador to Italy Sergey Razov to visit Monte Grimano Terme.
"I would like to invite the Russian ambassador Razov to pay us a visit. We could establish a friendship association, twin city partnership between Monte Grimano and Russia," Rossi said.
While waiting for the EMA's approval, Italy will start the production of Sputnik V under the agreement between the Russian Direct Investment Fund and pharmaceutical company Adienne Pharma & Biotech. The doses produced by the latter's plant in Bergamo, 10 million are planned by the end of the year, will go to the countries where the use of the vaccine has already been authorized.
The EU started its vaccination campaign in late December and, so far, has authorized the use of vaccines by AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. The bloc is at 9.8 percent of its population vaccinated with at least one dose.
