RNS: Sputnik V, Covid-19 vaccine showed over 95 per cent efficacy 42 days after the first dose and would be cheaper and easier to store than some alternatives, announced Russia on Tuesday based on the results of the second interim analysis of clinical trial data.
Preliminary data after trials involving thousands of volunteers showed “an efficacy of the vaccine above 95 percent” after a second dose, the vaccine’s developers said in a statement.
Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine is the world’s first clinically approved vaccine against the novel coronavirus. It has been manufactured by the Gamaleya Research Institute in collaboration with the Russian Health Ministry. Gamaleya Center experts confirmed the high efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine after double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trials.
Russia’s health ministry, the state-run Gamaleya research centre and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in the statement they expected the vaccine to record even higher effectiveness after the next analysis.
“No unexpected adverse events were identified as part of the research,” it said, though some of those vaccinated suffered short-term effects including fever, weakness, fatigue, and headache.
“The data demonstrating high efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine gives us hope that we will soon obtain the most important tool in the fight against the pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection,” Mikhail Murashko, the Russian health minister said in a statement.
