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Of: TT
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Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP / TT
The study behind the Russian vaccine “Sputnik V” is questioned by Swedish researcher Anders Björkman. Stock Photography.
A study of the Russian vaccine for covid-19 published in The Lancet magazine is being questioned by 30 European researchers. The antibody responses for different individuals are identical.
– It’s so random that it doesn’t exist, says KI professor Anders Björkman, who is one of the researchers.
The Russian study was published last week in the prestigious scientific journal The Lancet. It highlights the properties of the “Sputnik V” vaccine, named after the first Soviet satellite launched into space in 1957.
Russia already announced in August that the vaccine had been approved in clinical trials. The fact that the article has been published since then means that the research has also undergone an independent review, the so-called peer review.
The Russian researchers claim that the vaccine is “safe and well received” by a couple of dozen volunteers who participated in the study.
“Very strange”
But now 30 European researchers in an open letter question the data presented in the article. One of those who signed the letter is Anders Björkman, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Microbiology, Cell and Tumor Biology at the Karolinska Institutet. He says he signed the letter because he cares about the real investigation.
In the study, the volunteers tested four different models of the vaccine and developed antibodies accordingly. What the researchers think is that, however, several people developed exactly the same levels of antibodies. Different graphics show how the levels are identical.
– It’s very strange. You could say this, if all the stats were correct, it would be extremely random. It’s so random it’s unlikely, says Anders Björkman.
No raw data
The open letter addresses several examples of data that are exactly the same, and the study is described as “very unlikely” to be correct.
– We cannot show that it is wrong, we can only say that you have to see basic data to verify this, and we question how the review process has been carried out, says Björkman.
There is no raw data available to the public.
The Lancet has responded that they are aware of the open letter and have conveyed the views of the European researchers to the authors of the article.
“We have shared the letter directly with the authors and invited them to participate in the scientific discussion,” a spokesperson for the journal told AFP.
– I am very interested and excited about the result of this, says Anders Björkman.
Russia already has large-scale plans to manufacture the vaccine and intends, among other things, to deliver 100 million doses of “Sputnik V” to Latin American countries, Reuters reports.
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