European Union Has "Absolutely No Need" Of Sputnik V Vaccine: Official

The European Commission has been criticised for a slow vaccine rollout when the bloc faces a rise in cases and as former member Britain's inoculation programme gathers pace.

The European Union does not need Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 and can achieve immunity across the continent using European production, a leading EU executive said on Sunday in comments that provoked a backlash from the vaccine maker. The European Commission has been criticised for a slow vaccine rollout when the bloc faces a rise in cases and as former member Britain's inoculation programme gathers pace. "We have absolutely no need of Sputnik V," Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, who heads the EU executive's vaccine task force, told TF1 television. "Today, we clearly have the capacity to deliver 300 to 350 million doses by the end of June and therefore by July 14 ... we have the possibility of reaching continent-wide immunity," he said.