On Thursday, February 4, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996, Peter C. Doherty, highlighted the effectiveness of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19. He also stated that possible dose modifications in the face of new virus variants would not cause difficulties to its creators.
Speaking to the Russian news agency TASS, Doherty highlighted the use of viral vectors in the manufacture of the drug developed by the Gamaleya center.
“The effectiveness of the Sputnik V vaccine – more than 90% – looks great, and in addition, Russia has a long history of developing good vaccines. The strategy for the use of two adenovirus vectors it makes sense, and is, as I understand it, used in Sputnik. Of course, if the virus changes significantly as a result of the mutation, vaccine creators will have to ‘correct’ the drug a bit, but it won’t be difficult.“, Commented the specialist.
According to an intermediate analysis of Phase 3 clinical trials, which was published on Tuesday, February 2 in the medical journal The Lancet, the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine has an overall efficacy of 91.6%.
The publication notes that in these trials, 21,977 adults participated, which between September 7 and November 24, 2020 were randomly assigned to the vaccine group (16,501 people) and the placebo group (5,746). . In total, 19,866 volunteers received the two doses required for immunization, and among them, only 78 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed.