Czechs says they lack info needed to assess Sputnik vaccine for use

The Czech drugs regulator said on Thursday it lacked the documentation needed to fully assess Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine for possible use, drawing a rebuke from Moscow amid a separate, heated dispute over spying allegations.

The Czech Republic and Russia are embroiled in their worst row in decades after Prague said the same Russian agents accused of a 2018 attempt to poison a former Russian spy in Britain were also likely behind 2014 blasts at a Czech ammunitions depot.

The allegations, denied by Russia, have led to mass expulsions of staff from each of the country’s embassies.

New Czech Health Minister Petr Arenberger said on April 7 he would not oppose using Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine as part of a clinical trial.

But the head of the State Institute for Drug Control (SUKL), Irena Storova, told Czech Radio on Thursday that her office had not received enough documentation to make an assessment of its efficacy and safety.

“What we have seen is a fraction of the documentation that should be provided for the registration of a vaccine or medicine,” she said. It is up to the Health Ministry to decide on the use of the vaccine.