The Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is likely to provide up to 2 years of immunity against Covid-19, compared to the 4-5 months of immunity that could be achieved using the Covid vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The Gamaleya research center, which is developing the Sputnik V vaccine, made this claim on Monday.
A report in Wion quoted Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Russian research institute Gamaleya, as saying: “With regard to our vaccine and the platform on which it was created, the Ebola vaccine, there is experimental evidence that the use of this platform , using similar preparation methods, provides protection for at least two years, maybe longer. “
Delving into the immunity that is expected to be obtained by using the Pfizer vaccine, Alexander Gintsburg said: “It is difficult to say how long the Pfizer vaccine will give immunity, but based on the general findings of such vaccines, one must think that the period protection will not exceed four or five months, although this requires experimental data. “
Earlier this year, Russia became the first country in the world to register a Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik-V, named after Russia’s first satellite. It launched a mass vaccination program last week and developers said the vaccine is 95 percent effective based on interim trial results.
A press release from researchers at the Gamaleya Institute announced that Russia’s experimental coronavirus vaccine Sputnik-V shows 91.4 percent efficacy based on analysis of end-point checkpoint data from clinical trials.
“The efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine is 91.4 percent, based on final checkpoint analysis of data obtained 21 days after administration of the first dose,” the statement read.
According to the official Sputnik-V website, “advancement to the third and final statistically significant representative checkpoint allowed for final proof of vaccine efficacy of more than 90 percent.”
Kirill Dmitriev, Executive Director of RDIF: “Today the Gamaleya Institute and the Russian Direct Investment Fund will announce the effectiveness results of #SputnikV vaccine at the final checkpoint of clinical trials ”- @rdif_press.
– Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) December 14, 2020
However, the center’s deputy director of science, Denis Logunov, said the institute expects the efficacy rate of its vaccine to increase further.
However, despite the start of Russia’s vaccination campaign, Sputnik V has not yet completed its third and final phase of trials with some 40,000 volunteers.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer has shown 95 percent efficacy in the last stage of the trial, the company previously said.
In a major development, the United States is now the sixth country to approve the two-dose regimen, after Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
After the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada have become the other two nations in the world to initiate vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 with the dose of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine. Both the US and Canada have begun dosing Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to healthcare workers and the elderly.
(With contributions from AFP)
