European Union official says bloc has 'no need' of Sputnik V vaccine, faces backlash

A top European Union official triggered another vaccine controversy after he blatantly said that the bloc does not need Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market, speaking to TF1, reckoned that the EU was capable of achieving total immunity on the continent just by using European produce jabs. His remarks, however, drew backlash from Sputnik V which accused the bloc of ‘bias’. 

“We have absolutely no need of Sputnik V. Today, we clearly have the capacity to deliver 300 to 350 million doses by the end of June and therefore by 14 July… we have the possibility of reaching continent-wide immunity,” he told France’s state-controlled TF1 TV channel. 

Breton also reiterated a previous comment that the EU would help Russia with the production of the vaccine if needed but priority should be given to the Europeans. The bloc has been widely criticised for its slow rollout of vaccine shots, especially as compared to its former member-the UK. According to official data, 10.4 per cent of the bloc’s population has received at least one dose of the vaccine while 4.5 per cent has been completely inoculated against COVID-19.

Sputnik V terms it 'bias'  

The official account of Sputnik V called out Breton for being “biased”. In a series of tweets, Sputnik V  hit back on the bloc saying that it has failed to provide a “safe vaccine’ to residents while at least 54 countries have shown trust in the Russian vaccine. "Commissioner Thierry Brenton is clearly biased against Sputnik V vaccine just because it is Russian,” it wrote. 

Additionally, Sputnik V wrote that Brenton’s comment also pressures it to “not go through” the EMA approval process as the EU already considered it unnecessary. It also presented a report which stated that many European residents relocated to Russia to get Sputnik V shots. 

The Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine is based on a modified version of adenovirus, a common cold virus. The vector stripped of its disease-causing genes and modified to carry genetic instructions for making the coronavirus spike protein. This prompts the cells to cause an immune response which eventually protects against the SARS-CoV-2. Slovakia is the second European Union country to use the vaccine, which hasn't been approved by the European Medicines Agency, after Hungary. 

(Image Credit: AP/ANI)