Pandemic

Madrid negotiated with representatives of the Sputnik V vaccine "due to the inoperativeness" of the Spanish government

Ayuso's government claims the idea was to get an agreement for the whole State

3 min
The president of the Comunitat de Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the Regional Minister of Health, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, in an archive photo

The main target of Isabel Díaz Ayuso's campaign in the Madrid elections is Spanish president Pedro Sánchez. This Tuesday sources of the government of Madrid's regional government have confirmed that the regional Minister of Health, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, held up to three meetings with representatives of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V so that it could be used in the State. As advanced by the newspaper Abc the negotiations began mid-February without the Spanish government and because of "its inoperability", the regional executive has argued. The vaccine has not been authorised by the European Medicines Agency.

The first meeting took place on February 11 at the request of the Russian company, according to the Madrid government, and the regional Health Department listened to "their approaches" because it was planned that this vaccine would be manufactured in Galicia and wanted to "know the vaccination situation at state and regional level". Later, there were two more meetings with representatives of the Russian firm to "explore the international market and have all the possibilities open in the future to fight the pandemic, always within the state framework of vaccination". "In fact, the idea of the regional Health Department was to facilitate a pre-agreement for a purchase that would benefit the entire National Health System on equal terms for all Spaniards. It was about gaining time," Ayuso's team explained.

The news comes at a time when the Spanish government insists that by the end of the summer 70% of the population will be vaccinated, although the pace that has been followed so far is not entirely encouraging. However, in recent weeks the acquisition of new vials has been approved and the State will soon use four different vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen. This Tuesday the president of the Spanish executive, Pedro Sánchez, will appear by surprise after the council of ministers and is expected to launch an optimistic message regarding the vaccination campaign

"As a result of this slow delivery of vaccines our mission was to explore all possibilities," Ruiz Escudero argued at a press conference on Tuesday. "The data is stubborn. After 100 days of vaccination, only 5.6% of the population has received both doses. Madrid can do more. We need vaccines and we have to seek all possible ways," he added. Sources in the Madrid executive have acknowledged that the Spanish government was not informed of these negotiations and the PP spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament, Cuca Gamarra, has admitted that she did not know either.

The Sputnik V vaccine is already being purchased by some European countries, such as Austria, and according to Abc, Madrid's Deputy Minister of Health, Antonio Zapatero, told the Russian interlocutors that it is the best vaccine currently available. On the other side of the table was Pedro Mouriño, honorary consul of Russia in Vigo and CEO of ÍberAtlantic, the Galician company associated with the Russian direct investment fund, which would have the mission to seek business opportunities for Russian interests in Spain and Portugal. ÍberAtlantic has been negotiating during the month of March with the laboratory Zendal, located in O Porriño (Pontevedra), for eventual mass production of the Russian vaccine.

Finally, however, the Madrid government did not close any agreements with the representatives of Sputnik V, despite the fact that Mouriño had promised to guarantee that enough doses would arrive to vaccinate the entire population of Madrid by September, figures that would exceed the objectives of the Ministry of Health. The aforementioned newspaper also assures that the members of the Madrid executive would have made it clear that they would only acquire it if the European Union validated its use.

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