Russian scientists say the country’s Sputnik V vaccine appears safe and effective against COVID-19, according to early results of an advanced study published in a journal, in a boost for a shot that is increasingly being bought by nations around the world who are desperate to stop the devastation caused by the pandemic.
Researchers say based on their trial, which involved about 20,000 people in Russia last autumn, the vaccine is about 91.6 percent effective and that the shot also appeared to prevent people from becoming severely ill with COVID-19. The study was published online on Tuesday in a journal.
“There are no arguments left for critics of this vaccine, the article in a local journal is a checkmate,” said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which was part of Sputnik V’s development.
Scientists not linked to the researchers acknowledged that the speed at which the Russian vaccine was made and rolled out was criticized for “unseemly haste, corner-cutting and an absence of transparency”.
“But the outcome reported here is clear,” British scientists Ian Jones and Polly Roy wrote in an accompanying commentary.
“Another vaccine can now join the fight to reduce the incidence of COVID-19.”
Me3xico approved Sputnik V vaccine
Following the study’s publication, health regulators in Mexico approved the Russian vaccine for emergency use; while the drugs’ company that will manufacture the vaccine in Brazil; the country’s with the world’s second-highest number of deaths from coronavirus; said the findings were likely to expedite approvals for late-stage trials.
“As soon as Brazil’s health regulator approves the trials; we will start and they will take 60-90 days”; União Quimica Chief Executive Officer Fernando Marques told the local news agency. Health workers in Argentina started getting the vaccine on Tuesday.
The Sputnik V vaccine was approved by the Russian government with much fanfare on August 11. President Vladimir Putin personally broke the news on national television and said one of his daughters had already been vaccinated.