When will the European Medicines Agency approve eastern vaccines?
Over 1 million Hungarians have received either the Sputnik-V or the Sinopharm vaccine, neither of which has been authorized for use by the European Medicines Agency as of today. Meanwhile, the European Parliament has adopted the position that only those inoculated with EMA-approved vaccines will be automatically exempt from testing and/or quarantine requirements when traveling within the EU.
While they have been shown to be safe, the two vaccines have not yet undergone the authorization process of the EU, writes Forbes. Sputnik-V might soon join the ranks of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen, as it is due to be examined by the EMA from the 10th of May onwards, and if all goes well, it will be approved by early June. As for the Sinopharm vaccine, there is no word yet on an EMA certificate, but the WHO is expected to authorize it for use within a couple of days. While the WHO’s stamp of approval is not enough for unrestricted travel within the EU, it does open up new possibilities. Since the EU allows member states to deviate to a certain degree from the common framework,
each country will have the chance to decide whether they are willing to accept additional vaccines as well, as long as they are approved by the WHO.
Greece has already announced that this summer, they are opening their doors to every visitor, regardless of the vaccine they received and more countries are expected to follow in their footsteps.
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International travel will not be out of the question for unvaccinated individuals either, as long as they provide proof of having been through the disease or produce a negative test. In this case, they will have the same rights as those with an EMA-approved vaccine.
According to 24.hu, all Hungarian representatives in the European Parliament opposed the distinction between the vaccines, with the exception of the members of the Democratic Coalition who abstained from the vote as a manner of demonstrating their discontent with prime minister Orbán’s “deceit and lies that the Eastern vaccines his henchmen raked together will be worth as much as the Western ones in the EU”.
Meanwhile, PM Orbán has said that those who have received the Sinopharm vaccine should not worry about their travel prospects.
As Index reports, Orbán stated that Hungary would establish bilateral agreements with other countries, just as it has already done with Serbia and Montenegro, allowing anyone with an immunity certificate to cross their borders without any further conditions.
Read alsoBreaking! Foreigners living in Hungary to receive vaccines from this week
Source: Forbes, 24.hu, Index
Ah. So Minister Gergely Gulyás proposed blackmail of other EU States (not accepting other country’s vaccine certificate if they do not accept Hungary’s certificate) will not work?
Oops! Wonder what the fix will be – or if there’s a fix for all the poor sods with Sinopharm and Sputnik in their arms. …
Few days ago a Chinese medical official admitted that Sino vaccines are highly unreliable and that China is still working to get decent ones. We are talking of those very same vaccines the Hu govt paid a fortune of our money for and out of purely ideological anti-EU propaganda. And that only because their propaganda, their power, their posts, next year elections etc. come before anything else, before the health of Hu people and the State finances.
Now, if China itself ( not Mario not the U.S. not the E.U. but the P.R.C ) openly says that Sino vaccines are still extremely unreliable, in plain terms very lousy, why should the E.M.A. approve them? Just because some right wing Hungarians foolishly believed the lies of their 5XL Dear Leader? No way.
On the other hand, I am sure that if Sputnik appears fine, it will get the approval some time soon. Same for future Sino vaccines if they prove to be more reliable than present ones.
Stay well, all, and trust EMA.
Nicely put Gabor and let’s not forget the stage three trials of Sinopharm still haven’t been published by the Chinese. Check out The Lancet.
Private Clinics are now beginning to be able to administer a vaccine (I received an email this morning from Swiss Clinic) but this is Sinopharm at present. If one has been innoculated with the Chinese or Russian vaccine, once the respected private clinics are allowed to start offering one of the mainstream vaccines, there is no medical reason why an individual cannot then become inoculated again. Of course, one would have to fib and say that one has not had anything before, but so what?! Private treatment is not uploaded to the National health records system…..
“Mario the Caveman” says ‘trust EMA’.
What utter nonsense !
The ‘European Medicines Agency’ is yet another totally useless, bureaucratic arm of those left-wing, neo-Socialist / Communist / Stalinist, illegal-migrant and sexual-deviant worshipping political failures who claim to represent the majority of European citizens.
In reality, most European Commission / Parliament members don’t give a DAMN about the welfare of Europeans, so long as their bizarre and totally-disproven political beliefs are followed – ‘to the letter’.
If the ground below ‘Berlaymont’ (where the E.U. headquarters is located) opened up / ‘swallowed’ the entire monstrous construction then – and only then – would most Europeans have something to really ‘cheer about’ regarding the European Union.