ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s central Lazio region, around the capital Rome, plans to ask for 1 million shots of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine once it receives approval from the European Union regulator, a regional government source said on Friday.
Lazio, one of Italy’s most populous regions with almost 6 million residents, has so far managed to keep COVID-19 infections broadly under control compared with worse-hit regions such as Lombardy and Piedmont in the north.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has said it has begun reviewing Sputnik V, a process that could lead to its approval for use in all 27 EU countries.
There are currently no talks under way about buying Sputnik V shots, the European Commission said.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Gavin Jones)
