The Russian coronavirus vaccine is “reliable and safe”, the head of the National Medicines and Food Health Institute (OGYÉI) told public television M1 on Saturday, adding that application of the vaccine in Hungary could start “as early as next week”.
Mátyás Szentiványi cited British medical journal Lancet calling the vaccine safe and 92 percent effective and added that Hungarian health authorities were also testing the vaccine in terms of safety and effectiveness. He also said that the vaccine’s side effects were minor and manageable.
Szentiványi said that Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine was as effective as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, adding that Sputnik V could be safely used with patients older than 60, too.
Featured photo illustration by Péter Komka/MTI
