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Kurz: Austria Completes Talks With Russia on Sputnik V, Purchase of Vaccine Possible

VIENNA (Sputnik) - Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Saturday that the negotiations with Russia on the procurement of Sputnik V had come to an end and that there is a possibility for Vienna to purchase the vaccine.
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"A purchase for Austria is possible", Kurz told reporters, adding the talks have "de facto come to an end".

According to the chancellor, the procurement of 1 million doses of Sputnik V would accelerate the vaccination campaign in the country.

Kurz said Wednesday that Austria could give the Russian vaccine a go-ahead without waiting for the end of the EU drug regulator's rolling review. He complained that it was taking the European Medicines Agency too long to approve the vaccine.

In the meantime, Sputnik V, which has been undergoing a rolling review by the EMA since 4 March, has already been authorised in nearly 60 countries. According to trial results released by the medical journal The Lancet, the vaccine has 91.6 percent efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19.

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