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RUSSIA FIRST: The battle to be first out with vaccines is great. When Britain approved Pfizer’s corona vaccine earlier this week, Putin ordered the mass vaccination in Moscow. Here a person receives the first dose of Sputnik V. Photo: MAXIM SHEMETOV / REUTERS
The Russian authorities have started mass vaccination of selected groups in Moscow, with their own Sputnik V vaccine. – Too soon, says the Norwegian virologist.
– It is a political decision to start vaccination now. It is too early, but Russia is in a very difficult situation. Especially in Moscow, the crown is spreading like wildfire.
Virologist Svein Arne Nordbø says this to the news that Moscow authorities have started vaccinating large groups of people, with their Sputnik V.
This weekend, Russian authorities set up 70 stations around the city where people of certain professions can come forward and get vaccinated. This applies to teachers and other school personnel, social workers and health workers, writes the BBC.
According to the researchers, the vaccine should be 95 percent effective. No serious side effects have been reported so far, but the vaccine is still in the testing phase.
Doubtful: Virologist Svein Arne Nordbø at NTNU has yet to find research publications to support claims that Sputnik V is 95 percent effective. Photo: Thor Nielsen
Unprecedented efficiency
– Sputnik V may well be an effective vaccine, but we still don’t know much about it. They themselves claim that it is 92 to 95 percent effective, and I suppose they have data on that. But I have not found any publications about it, says virologist Nordbø to VG.
That’s one of the reasons the Russian vaccine isn’t approved in Europe or the United States, he says.
– To be approved here, you must submit the appropriate documentation, both on the effect and on the frequency of side effects. Although the Russian authorities have approved the vaccine, they have not submitted good enough documentation to Europe or the United States.
MILLIONS TO BE VACCINATED: Another person will receive the vaccine in Moscow on Saturday. Photo: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
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Pfizer vaccine approved in the UK: vaccination to start next week
It started before the UK
The mass vaccination begins just days after Britain, as the first country, approved the Pfizer vaccine on Wednesday this week. Vaccination will start next week.
On the same day Britain approved the Pfizer vaccine, Russian President Putin ordered them to start mass vaccination as soon as possible.
So far, Russia has produced two million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. The vaccine is in phase 3 of the trial and is being tested in 40,000 volunteers, in addition to those now receiving the vaccine in Moscow.
Each person should receive two injections, the second three weeks after the first.
So far, no side effects other than a slight increase in body temperature, lethargy, and weakness have been reported. These side effects should be transient and normal while the body develops immunity, the director of one of the vaccine clinics tells RuNews24.
ORDERED MASS VACCINATION: Russian President Vladimir Putin during a video conference with the Defense Ministry earlier this week. Photo: ALEXEY NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK
Will be vaccinated
These are common side effects of any vaccine, Nordbø says. But it is not yet known if these are the only side effects, he says.
– The long-term effect of Sputnik V has not yet been considered, at least there are no reports about it. It may take months before you know what side effects you may have. Most appear immediately, but neurological symptoms can appear much later.
– Should we be as concerned about Western vaccines like Pfizer or Modernas, as you are with Sputnik V?
– With my knowledge of vaccines that are at the forefront of the road, I would not hesitate to get vaccinated. I think one should hesitate to assess the potential for side effects. But these are companies that have been testing on a large scale for a few months, so I think most of the side effects have been revealed, Nordbø says.
According to VG corona statistics, Russia currently has more than 2.4 million infected, with 42,684 dead. Moscow is the epicenter of the pandemic in the giant country and, according to the BBC, on Saturday it received almost 29,000 new cases of infection.
