A healthcare professional prepares a dose of the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine at a hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Photographer: Anita Pouchard Serra / Bloomberg
Photographer: Anita Pouchard Serra / Bloomberg
Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is ready to consider using the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in Germany, while trying to allay concerns over her country’s Covid-19 vaccination program.
In a rare television appearance on Tuesday, Merkel said the Russian shot could be used to protect people in the European Union, provided it was approved by the European Medicines Agency.
“I talked to the Russian president about exactly that,” she said.
It was the first time she was interviewed in prime time since June – when Germany approved measures to offset the economic consequences of the pandemic. She spoke shortly after the medical journal The Lancet published a provisional analysis of an advanced clinical trial showing that Sputnik V provided strong protection against Covid-19.
“We received good data today from the Russian vaccine,” Merkel said in an interview with public broadcaster ARD. “All vaccines are welcome in the EU, but only after they are approved by the EMA.”
The chancellor and her government were criticized after she pressured Germany to hand over responsibility for negotiating vaccine contracts to the European Commission. Subsequent delivery delays have been blamed for slowing down dose distribution, with Germany – and its European partners – lagging behind in countries like the United States and Britain.
Read more: Merkel’s handprints reveal vaccine flaws in Germany
Merkel also reiterated her promise that all Germans will receive their first injection of the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of September, as long as the pharmaceuticals meet their delivery commitments.
Even if new injections are not approved, there will be sufficient supplies, despite previous delays, she said on Monday after talks about the crisis with pharmaceutical executives, ministers, the country’s 16 prime ministers and EU commission officials.
Germany vaccinated about 3 in every 100 people, compared with 10 in the US and almost 15 in the UK, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. Although Britain and the United States started immunizing several weeks earlier, thanks to the faster approval, Germany’s launch was hampered by supply problems.
Read more: Merkel makes promise of summer vaccine with ‘tough weeks’ ahead
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Tuesday Admitted that the EU should have ordered more Covid-19 vaccines, while defending the bloc’s agreement to negotiate jointly with pharmaceutical companies.
“We made a conscious decision to supply the vaccines together and distribute them fairly,” said Scholz at a virtual forum in Europe. “But we must also be critical and Admit that more should have been ordered, ”he added, while emphasizing his support for a joint European strategy.
Scholz said that the priority now is to speed up deliveries and “expand vaccine production capacity very quickly with all the resources we have at our disposal”.
– With the help of Iain Rogers and Daniel Schaefer