Medical chamber: Russian vaccine ‘modern’, Chinese vaccine ‘not bad’

Eearlier in the week, however, Kincses had not recommended the two vaccines for use citing a lack of documentation, the paper said.

Speaking on commercial ATV on Friday, Kincses said he had not sought to create mistrust with the eastern vaccines, but insisted that vaccines should only be administered “with no concern” if they had their “instructions for use”. He said that the chamber had been promised further documentation before the two vaccines would be applied in Hungary.

Concerning allegations that the government was pushing health authorities to grant licences for some vaccines, Kincses said “the only good vaccine is which has been administered” and argued that “each shot will save many more lives than it risks”. “Risks of political influencing are dwarfed by the risks of Covid”, he added.

OGYEI: Russian vaccine ‘reliable’

The Russian coronavirus vaccine is “reliable and safe”, the head of the National Medicines and Food Health Institute (OGYEI) told public television M1 on Saturday, adding that application of the vaccine in Hungary could start “as early as next week”.

Matyas Szentivanyi 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. 

Szentivanyi 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.