EU countries have all the legal rights to purchase Russian or Chinese vaccines, while they will bear full responsibility for the consequences of their use, the representative of the European Commission Eric Mamer told abriefing in Brussels.

From a legal point of view, EU member states have the right to purchase vaccines from suppliers that are not included in the European vaccine pre-order package, Mamer said when asked about the procurement of Russian vaccines by EU countries. 

Mamer noted that the EU countries, allowing the use of these vaccines at the national level, will be responsible for all the consequences of the use of these vaccines.

The European Medicines Agency said Thursday that it has begun a sequential review process for the Sputnik V vaccine. The EU regulator said that during the examination, experts will assess the compliance of the drug with EU standards in the field of efficacy, safety and quality.