Chinese vaccine inadequate, Sputnik may not be approved: Italian PM

Brussels, Belgium

As Russia struggles to control the spread of coronavirus in the country, Moscow has been using homemade vaccine, Sputnik, to protect locals against the deadly virus. However, the confidence in Russian-made vaccines is not the same everywhere.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, on Friday, said there are very fewer chances of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik, of receiving approval by the European Union anytime soon.

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"Sputnik... has not yet managed to obtain and perhaps will never have the approval of EMA (the European Medicines Agency)," Draghi said.

He also discredited the Chinese vaccine and claimed Sinovac to be highly unsuitable to protect people from COVID-19. "The Chinese vaccine ... has shown to be inadequate, look at the experience in Chile," he said.

Draghi was referring to Chile's proposal of adding a third booster shot to protect its citizens from new variants of the virus. Chile has heavily relied on China’s Sinovac vaccine.

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His comments have come at a time when both, Sputnik and Sinovac, are under a "rolling review" process by the EMA and are still in queue for receiving approval, months after its roll out in home countries.

Draghi also urged people to not let their guards down and follow all necessary precautions as the Delta variant is quickly spreading through the world. "The pandemic is not over, we are not yet out of it," he said.