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Italy Not Ruling Out Possibility of Purchasing Russian Vaccine Sputnik V, Prime Minister Says

© REUTERS / POOLItaly's Prime Minister Mario Draghi speaks during a news conference after a cabinet meeting in Rome, Italy, March 19, 2021.
Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi speaks during a news conference after a cabinet meeting in Rome, Italy, March 19, 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920, 19.03.2021
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ROME (Sputnik) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi does not rule out that in the absence of coordination within the EU, the country will be able to order the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V.

"We'll see," he said at a press conference.

"If European coordination does not work, you have to be ready to act independently. This is what [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel says, and I say it myself," Draghi added.

Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the EU countries will have to use all vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and if the bloc does not order the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, Germany will do it on its own

Germany started rolling out vaccines in December but hit a snag soon after both Pfizer and AstraZeneca slashed the vaccine supply to the EU. A source in Berlin told Sputnik on Friday that the EU drug regulator might clear the Russian shot for use in two months’ time.

This month, a number of EU countries suspended their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports about some of the vaccinated people developing blood clots. Later, the EMA announced that they had not found any evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine was associated with increased risks of blood clot events.

With the EMA still reviewing Sputnik V, two EU nations — Hungary and Slovakia — have already approved the Russian vaccine via national emergency procedures.

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