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Coronavirus: Austria eyes Russian Sputnik V doses

March 31, 2021

Vienna says it might look to place an order for 1 million doses next week. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who has argued that Austria has not received its fair share from an EU scheme, believes they can be delivered by June.

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Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor
Kurz held talks with Putin in February about acquiring the Sputnik V vaccineImage: Eibner-Pressefoto/EXPA/Schroetter/imago images

Austria said on Wednesday that it would look to order one million doses of the Russian Sputnik V jab.

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that his government would look to try and make up some of the shortfall by snapping up the Russian vaccine.

"We are in the final metrers and a Sputnik order can probably be placed next week," he said. Kurz said Russia would be able to ensure "very prompt delivery" and send the ordered doses by June.

He spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 26 about possible deliveries of Sputnik V to Austria, according to a statement by his office.

"The only thing that counts is whether the vaccine is effective and safe, not where it comes from," the statement said.

The Sputnik V vaccine
Senior EU officials have called Russia's push for European governments to use the Sputnik V vaccine "propaganda".Image: Sergei Bobylev/TASS/dpa/picture alliance

Austria had previously indicated it would only order Moscow's vaccine if it had been approved by EU regulators. But Kurz made no reference to that commitment, in either direction, on Wednesday.

The European Medicines Agency is performing safety checkson the vaccine, but EU officials say no request for market authorization has been submitted by its manufacturers.

What is Austria's dispute with the EU over vaccines about?

The 34-year-old conservative leader clashed with fellow EU governments during a video call last week over whether Vienna was getting its fair share of vaccines.

Kurz says the EU has made incorrect calculations to share vaccines based on population size, claiming Austria is being short-changed.

The dispute concerns the distribution of 10 million vaccine doses from Biontech and Pfizer.

The EU makes vaccine doses available to its 27 member nations on a pro-rata basis, or according to population. Kurz argues that the data used to calculate the shares are flawed.

Are other EU nations eyeing Sputnik jabs?

Two other EU nations have already placed orders: Slovakia and Hungary

The leaders of Russia, Germany and France
The three leaders held talks about Sputnik by videocall on TuesdayImage: Jacques Witt/ABACAPRESS/picture alliance

Austria's move comes after French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened their own talks on Sputnik Vwith Putin on Tuesday.

That is despite Mr Macron's own foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, calling Russia's efforts to promote Sputnik "a propaganda tool" in a radio interview last Friday.

European Council President Charles Michel, the former Belgian PM who now chairs EU summits, warned last month the bloc should not "be misled by China and Russia, both regimes with less desirable values than ours, as they organize highly limited but widely publicized operations to supply vaccines to others."

"Europe will not use vaccines for propaganda purposes. We promote our values," he said.

European Commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant declined to be comment on whether Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU executive, supported getting doses from Moscow.

"Everybody in Europe is doing what is possible to accelerate the delivery of supplies," she said.

jf/msh (AFP, dpa, Reuters)