RDIF: Russia registers Sputnik Light vaccine, efficacy at 79.4%

MOSCOW, May 6 (PRIME) -- Russia has registered a single-component coronavirus vaccine Sputnik Light, whose efficacy amounts to 79.4%, the Russian Direct Investment Fund said in a statement on Thursday.

“The Russian Ministry of Health, the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund announce that Sputnik Light, a single dose COVID-19 vaccine, has received authorization for use in Russia. The single dose Sputnik Light vaccine demonstrated 79.4% efficacy according to the analyzed data taken 28 days after the injection was administered. An efficacy level of near 80% is higher than that of many two-dose vaccines,” the statement read.

The efficacy was calculated on the data collected from Russians vaccinated with a single injection of Sputnik V during mass vaccination from December 5, 2020 through April 15, 2021 and who have not received the second component.

The first two phases of the safety and immunogenicity study of Sputnik Light were launched in January, and interim results received in March showed that the vaccine can elicit development of antigen specific IgG antibodies in 96.9% of volunteers on the 28th day after immunization, virus-neutralizing antibodies developed in 91.67% of volunteers on the 28th day post immunization, and cellular immune response against the S Protein of SARS-CoV-2 developed in 100% of volunteers.

No serious adverse effects were registered.

“Sputnik Light has proven effective against all new strains of coronavirus, as demonstrated by the Gamaleya Center during laboratory tests,” the RDIF said.

The fund also said that more than 20 million people have received injections of the first component of Sputnik V in the world as of May 5, and no cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis were registered. Sputnik V remains the main vaccination tool.

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