Austria is apparently about to order one million doses of the Russian Covid vaccine Sputnik V. The Federal Chancellery confirmed negotiations on request, but emphasized that no sales contract had yet been signed. After Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Italy and Slovakia, Austria is joining a number of countries that want to compensate for the bottleneck caused by the European Union.

Austria could have a million vaccine doses delivered from Russia by June 2021, with negotiations being carried out on license production in the Alpine republic. Italy has already signed such a contract with Russia and plans to start producing Sputnik V soon. The first cans have already been delivered to Rome for test purposes. A few weeks ago urged Austria's Chancellor to do sothat the vaccines from Russia and China will be approved quickly.

A corresponding approval process is currently underway at the EMA, but there are initial signs that Austria might abandon the previous practice and, like Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, issue national approvals. The Ministry of Health, headed by Rudolf Anschober (Greens), does not want to speak about this in public yet. In parliament, the named politician emphasized that every vaccine used must be safe.

New problems with AstraZeneca in Germany

In Germany, problems arose again with the AstraZeneca product. The first federal states stopped vaccinating people under the age of 55 with immediate effect. Since the European Union has ordered extraordinarily large quantities of this vaccine, but the manufacturer only wants to deliver around 30 percent of the agreed quantity in the second quarter and on top of that the criticism does not stop, the Austrian government now seems to have “Plan B” in the form of Sputnik Wanting to pull V.

It is currently unclear when EMA approval could be granted. The Russian direct investment fund responsible for marketing expects around June 2021. Austria could accelerate this with national approval. According to reports, around 2021 cans could be delivered to Vienna as early as April 300.000. The Federal Chancellery pointed out to the Austria Press Agency that access to documents had already been made possible as part of a confidentiality agreement. These could form the basis for a national emergency approval. Specifically, negotiations are being made about the delivery of 300.000 cans in April, 500.000 in May and 200.000 cans in June. The purchase contract could be signed in the next few days. It is clear that Austria is considering compensating for the AstraZeneca bottleneck with Sputnik V.