Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V is about 91 percent effective and appears to prevent serious cases of infection, according to a study published Tuesday.
The results in the British medical journal The Lancet come from a phase 3 study involving about 20,000 people in Russia last fall.
Concerns about the safety of the two-dose shot increased after Russia approved Sputnik V in August – ahead of its Western competitors and before the start of large-scale clinical trials.
President Vladimir Putin said at the time that one of his daughters had been vaccinated with it, although it had only been tested on a few dozen people.
The latest study involved approximately 20,000 participants over the age of 18 in 25 Moscow hospitals between September and November. Three quarters received two doses of Sputnik V 21 days apart and the rest received placebos.
The most common side effects were flu-like symptoms, injection site pain, and fatigue. Serious side effects in both groups were rare. Four deaths were reported, but none were considered to be the result of the vaccine.
The study also included more than 2,100 people over the age of 60, with the vaccine found to be more than 92 percent effective.
The Russian vaccine is similar to the one being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Both use a modified version of the cold-causing adenovirus to carry genes for the spike protein in the coronavirus to get the body to respond to a COVID infection.
But unlike the AstraZeneca / Oxford recording, the Russian version uses a slightly different adenovirus for its second booster shot.
“This aims to stimulate a higher immune response to the target’s ‘peak’ by using two slightly different pricks,” said Alexander Edwards, associate professor of biomedical engineering at the British University of Reading, who was not affiliated with the Russian study , at the Associated Press. .
Some experts say the modified booster shot could be why the Russian vaccine has had better results than AstraZeneca’s, which has an efficacy rate of about 60 to 70 percent.
Putin ordered mass vaccinations in the country last month, which said it will be able to vaccinate 700 million people this year, according to the TASS news agency.
In December, the Russian scientist behind Sputnik V said the shot will protect against COVID-19 for two years.
A batch of 40,000 doses of Sputnik V was delivered on Tuesday to Hungary, the first member of the European Union to approve and order the vaccine.
Sputnik V has also received approval in more than a dozen countries and more than 50 countries have filed applications for 2.4 billion doses.
With pole wires