PRAGUE – Slovakia signed a deal to acquire 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, Prime Minister Igor Matovic said Monday.
Matovic said his country will get 1 million shots in the next two months while another million will arrive in May and June. Slovakia is the second European Union country to use the vaccine, which hasn't been approved by the European Medicines Agency, after Hungary.
It hasn't been registered by Slovakia’s drug authority, but the deal was made possible by Health Minister Marek Krajci’s approval.
Matovic said the nation of 5.4 million will be able to speed up the vaccination program by 40%. Slovakia has so far administered 305,832 shots of Western vaccines that it has received through an EU deal.