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Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V — the third vaccine to have been approved for emergency use in India — has now got authorisation for a single dose use in Russia as ‘Spuntnik Light’.
The Russian Ministry of Health, the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) has on Thursday announced that Sputnik Light, a single dose Covid-19 vaccine, has received authorisation for use in Russia.
Sputnik Light is the first component (recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26)) of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
“The single dose Sputnik Light vaccine demonstrated 79.4 per cent efficacy, according to analysed data taken from 28 days after the injection was administered. An efficacy level of near 80 per cent is higher than that of many two-dose vaccines,” RDIF said in a release.
The efficacy rate was calculated based on data obtained from Russians vaccinated with a single injection, having not received the second one for any reason during the mass vaccination program between December 5, 2020 and April 15, 2021.
The infection rate among vaccinated subjects from the 28th day from the date of the injection was only 0.277 per cent. Over the same period, the infection rate among the unvaccinated adult population was 1.349 per cent.
The Sputnik Light vaccine is based on a well-studied human adenoviral vector platform that has proven to be safe and effective.
Putin welcomes emergency approval for Sputnik-V
Accelerating immunisation
The cost of the Sputnik Light vaccine globally will be less than $10, while it has simple storage requirements, at +2 +8, which provide for easy logistics. The one-shot regimen allows for the vaccination of large groups of the population in a short time, helping to speed up the fight against the pandemic during the acute phase.
According to Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the single dose regimen solves the challenge of immunising large groups in a shorter time, which is especially important during the acute phase of the spread of coronavirus, achieving herd immunity faster.
Sputnik V to give booster shot to vaccination programme
“The two-dose Sputnik V vaccine remains the main source of vaccination in Russia, while the Sputnik Light vaccine will be exported to our international partners to help increase the rate of vaccinations in a number of countries in the face of the ongoing fight with the pandemic and new strains of coronavirus,” he added.
In India, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, which has entered into a comprehensive pact with RDIF for Sputnik V as brand custodian, marketing and distribution, has already received 1.5 lakh doses of Sputnik V from Russia and is completing Regulatory formalities to release it in the market.
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