Following criticism last year for early implementation, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19 and 100% effective against severe and moderate disease, according to a tentative analysis of the results of the phase 3 trial of the vaccine.
Preliminary findings were published Tuesday in The Lancet and are based on data collected from 19,866 participants, of whom about three-quarters (14,964) received two doses of the vaccine and a quarter (4,902) were given a placebo.
Sixteen cases of symptomatic Covid-19 in the vaccine group were confirmed 21 days after participants received the first dose of vaccine. Sixty-two cases were found in the placebo group, equivalent to an efficacy of 91.6%.
The trial included 2,144 people over the age of 60 and a sub-analysis in this group revealed that the vaccine was well tolerated and had a similar efficacy of 91.8%.
The team also analyzed the effectiveness of the severe and moderate Covid-19 vaccine 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 adverse events were also rare and none were considered to be associated with vaccination. Most of the side effects reported were mild, such as pain at the injection site, flu symptoms, and low energy levels, according to the study.
The analysis includes only symptomatic cases of Covid-19, however, and the authors note that more research is needed to understand the effectiveness of the vaccine against asymptomatic Covid-19 transmission, and how long protection can last.
Most participants in the trial were also white, so further research is needed to confirm the results of other ethical groups. The trial is also ongoing and aims to include a total of 40,000 participants.
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