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According to the company, Astra Zeneca’s vaccine has an average protective effect of 70 percent, while the Russian vaccine is said to be even more effective, providing 95 percent protection against covid-19.
Now, the Swedish-British pharmaceutical company and the Russian Gamaleya Institute want to investigate whether it is possible to combine the two vaccines for an even greater protective effect, Reuters claims. The vaccine is similar in that they both contain genetic material from the new coronavirus nail protein, the BBC reports.
The Russian state The RDIF investment fund, which finances and markets Sputnik V, says it will begin recruiting people over 18 for the clinical study in people, which will begin in late December. If the combination proves to be effective, Russia wants to start joint production of the new vaccine.
Astra Zeneca states in a press release that the combination of different covid-19 vaccines could improve the protective effect and availability of vaccines and that it is important to explore different combinations to make vaccination programs more flexible.
Astra Zeneca is also considering how to evaluate heterologous combinations of different vaccines, working with industry partners, governments and research institutions around the world, and will soon begin to explore this with the Gamaleya Research Institute in Russia to see if two vaccines based on adenoviruses can be combined successfully, “Astra Zeneca wrote in the statement.
Russia has already started mass vaccinate the population with Sputnik V, although the latest phase 3 study has not been completed. This has caused concern among some researchers in the West.
Last week, Sweden’s vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström criticized Russia, claiming the vaccine was approved for too vague reasons. You have doubts about safety and protective effect.
– It has been as much secret, without transparency as with the rest of the companies. An approval has been given based on so little information, he told DN.
DN has reached out to Astra Zeneca for comment, but the company is only referring to its press release.
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