According to the V4 country s prime minister, many Slovak citizens would only accept the Sputnik V vaccine. A recent study, which shows that trust for the Sputnik V vaccine is exceptionally high in the country, appears to bolster his statement.

„We do consider any vaccine as a means to fight the pandemic,” Slovak PM Eduard Heger told POLITICO in a recent interview.

Barely a month ago, Mr Heger took over the post of prime minister from his fellow party member, Igor Matovic, who was forced to resign because of a coalition crisis that s developed precisely over the purchase of the Russian vaccine.

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The new head of government has confirmed to POLITICO that he believes the Slovak population „is in need of” the Russian vaccine and that the government would like to start its distribution.

Slovakia ordered a total of two million Sputnik V vaccines, of which about two hundred thousand doses arrived in early March. However, the rollout of vaccines is still on hold as the Slovak State Agency for Medicines Control (SUKL)  previously determined that the Russian vaccine received was not identitical to the samples undergoing testing by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), nor to those used in the study published in The Lancet. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RFPI), which finances the development of the vaccine and manages its foreign production, responded in an official communication that „all Sputnik V batches are of the same quality and (they all) undergo rigoros quality control at the Gamaleja Institute.”

In addition, according to RFPI, Slovak authorities have breached the contract by testing Sputnik V in a laboratory that is not a member of the EU s network of pharmacovigilance laboratories, despite such laboratories being available. Igor Matovic, who was in charge of the procurement of the Russian jabs as prime minister, earlier said that Russia s vaccine had too many high-ranking enemies.

Mr Matovic, who has since become finance minister, visited Hungary in early April to ask for help in the analysis of the vaccines.

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Hungary granted his request, with Hungarian experts currently analysing 46 doses of the jab. Besides, Russia has taken over 600 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine for analysis in Russia.

Slovakia s health ministry will decide about administering the Russian jab once this analysis has been concluded. Speaking to POLITICO, Eduard Heger expressed hope that the Sputnik V can be employed during the country s inoculation drive as soon as possible.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has set a target for 70 percent of adults in the EU to be vaccinated by the end of July, but Mr Heger says Slovakia is unlikely to meet that target. „We probably won t (achieve it), because we don t have those vaccines,” he said.

The National Health Information Centre reports that some 1.35 million people have been inoculated with at least the first jab in the country of 5.5 million people, with 436 thousand having already received the second dose.

At the same time, acceptance for the Russian jab is quite high in the Slovak society. A „high number of people wouldn t get vaccinated with anything else, just Sputnik,” Mr Heger said.

His statement is supported by a recent poll: according to a study by Globsec Analysis Center carried out in 10 countries, Slovakia has by far the highest demand for the Sputnik V vaccine. According to the report, 15 per cent of the Slovak population would specifically choose that jab, ahead of Latvia (10%) and Estonia (6%).