Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which has backed the country’s vaccine against coronavirus disease (Covid-19), has rejected criticism about Sputnik V’s security after Western experts warned against its use until all have been taken. internationally approved regulatory tests and measures.
“With this (post) we answer all the questions from the West that have been diligently asked over the past three weeks, frankly with the clear aim of tarnishing the Russian vaccine,” said Kirill Dmitriev, director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). .
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“All the boxes are checked. Now … we will start asking questions about some of the western vaccines, ”he told Reuters.
Dmitriev complained that certain politicians and the media were not concentrating on the research that led to the development of the vaccine, but were busy with negative publicity against Russia.
The vaccine, called Sputnik-V in homage to the world’s first satellite launched by the Soviet Union, is a human adenoviral vector vaccine that fights Covid-19.
Dmitriev also praised India for expressing interest in producing the vaccine locally.
“India has historically been a very important partner for Russia. India is one of the leading producing countries. About 60% of all vaccines in the world are produced in India. We are in close dialogue with the relevant ministries and the government of India and the country’s leading manufacturer regarding the location of Sputnik V vaccine production in India, ”he said, according to ANI.
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The results of the Sputnik V clinical trials were published on Friday and the clinical trials showed that 76 participants who participated in the trial developed strong immune responses. The research team said that the COVID-19 vaccine based on rAd26 and rAd5 heterologous vectors “induced strong humoral and cellular immune responses in the participants,” according to results published Friday by the medical journal The Lancet.
The study participants were followed for 42 days, and the scientists said the sample of study participants was small and no control or placebo vaccines were used. The Lancet study indicated that between June 18 and August 3, two Russian hospitals were enrolled in which healthy people, both men and women, between 18 and 36 years old participated.
The study led by Dr. Denis Logunov of the NF Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Moscow, said participants were administered a “heterologous COVID-19 vaccine consisting of two components, a recombinant adenovirus type vector 26 (rAd26) and a recombinant adenovirus type 5 vector (rAd5), both carriers of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) peak glycoprotein gene (rAd26-S and rAd5-S) “.
The study written by Logunov and his team of researchers noted that there were no adverse effects except for a few “common systemic and local reactions.”
The study said: “The most common systemic and local reactions were pain at the injection site (44 [58%]), hyperthermia (38 [50%]), headache (32 [42%]), asthenia (21 [28%]), and muscle and joint pain (18 [24%]). Most of the systemic and local reactions were mild. The changes in the laboratory variables were slight and transitory. In volunteers who received both components of the vaccine (rAd26-S and rAd5-S), most adverse events occurred after the second vaccination (Appendix pp. 5-7). No adverse events, either during phase 1 or phase 2, led to the withdrawal of a study participant or withdrawal of the study drug. “
Criticism regarding Russia’s Sputnik V continues as experts say the approval has been immature. The daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin was also among the participants and at a cabinet meeting, she said her daughter is feeling fine.
“I know [the vaccine] it works quite effectively, helps develop strong immunity and has gone through all the necessary tests, “Putin said.
According to another Lancet report, Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, expressed concern about the efficacy of the immune response-based vaccine. “The immune response might not be directly proportional to the degree of protection; this can only be discovered in large-scale trials, ”he said.
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