He noted that Hungary is permitted to use the vaccine before it is approved by the European Medicines Agency only because we are in an exceptional emergency.

In this situation, the relevant national authority will proceed solely at its own responsibility and is obliged to guarantee that the product not yet approved at the EU level remains within the confines of the country and will not be taken to any other EU countries.

The question has arisen because Hungary is preparing to use the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to halt the coronavirus pandemic.

The first shipment is expected in December for submission to Hungarian clinical tests ahead of mass distribution planned to start in January.

According to reports, Hungary will be the first EU member state to apply the Russian vaccine.

Human Resources Minister Miklós Kásler announced that a delegation of Hungarian specialists had left for Russia to test the vaccine and inspect the laboratories in which it is produced.