SLOVAKIA TO DONATE OR SELL SPUTNIK DOSES AS DEMAND SLUMPS

Slovakia wants to donate or sell 160,000 doses of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V due to low demand for the shot among its population, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

The doses will probably be passed to countries in the West Balkans, according to a government decision on Wednesday. EU member Slovakia has been using the Sputnik V although it has not been authorized by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) yet.

Former government chief and current Finance Minister Igor Matovic bought 200,000 doses of the jab from Russia. The shots expire in the summer.

But Slovakians were not especially interested in the jab from the beginning. Only 14,214 citizens have requested a shot with Sputnik V, according to official figures, and 8,004 have been inoculated with it.

Overall, some 2 million of Slovakia's 5,5 million inhabitants have received one shot against COVID-19, and 25 percent of the population have received the two shots needed for optimal immunity.

Matovic blames the Sputnik V flop on a "vile three-month campaign" on social media. He has not received the shot himself, justifying this by saying he had to travel a lot and the vaccine was not recognized in all countries.

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