After criticism last year for an early rollout, Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19 and 100% effective against severe and moderate disease, according to an interim analysis of the vaccine’s Phase 3 trial results.
The preliminary findings were published Tuesday in The Lancet and are based on data collected from 19,866 participants, of whom approximately three-quarters (14,964) received two doses of the vaccine and a quarter (4,902) received a placebo.
Sixteen cases of symptomatic Covid-19 were confirmed in the vaccine group 21 days after the participants received the first vaccine dose. Sixty-two cases were found in the placebo group, corresponding to an efficacy of 91.6%.
The trial included 2,144 people over 60 years of age and a sub-analysis performed on this group revealed that the vaccine was well tolerated and had a comparable efficacy of 91.8%.
The team also analyzed the efficacy of the vaccine against severe and moderate Covid-19 disease and 21 days after the first dose, no serious or moderate cases were reported in the vaccinated group, while 20 were reported in the placebo group.
Serious side effects were also rare and none of these were associated with vaccination. According to the study, most of the side effects reported were mild, such as pain at the injection site, flu-like symptoms, and low energy levels.
The analysis includes only symptomatic cases of Covid-19, however, and the authors note that more research is needed to understand the efficacy of the vaccine against asymptomatic Covid-19, transmission and duration of protection.
The majority of the study participants were also white, so further research is needed to confirm results among other ethical groups. The trial is also underway and aims for a total of 40,000 participants.
Read the full story:
