Sputnik V: Russia admits international demand for vaccines exceeds production capacity

Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, assured today, during his regular press conference, that Russia’s production capacity for Sputnik vaccine was saturated before the international request and warned that the government of Vladimir Poutine they analyze a plan to start manufacturing doses outside the national territory.

“We are making a big effort to start production of the Russian vaccine in several countries in the coming days”, the official said and assured that in this way the demand from other countries will be met, while the companies in the country are working for the local market.

According to what was published by the Russian agency Tass, Peskov indicated that orders from other countries – among them Argentina, who started their vaccination campaign with this formula – they “far exceeded the existing production capacity” and also stressed that the priority for the Kremlin is the Russians.

Asked about which countries would be chosen to transfer the manufacture of Sputnik V, He said the information was to be provided by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which promotes Russian vaccines abroad.

After Peskov’s statements, the government also announced that Russia will register its third vaccine, Covivac, next Saturday, and that at the same time, it plans to make progress in studying the use of Sputnik V in minors. . “Vaccine registration is scheduled for February 20”, The Russian Covid-19 Center said in a statement referring to Covivac, the drug developed by the Mikhail Chumakov Center for Research and Development of Immunizers.

The text adds that it is expected to complete the second phase of clinical trials “at the beginning of 2021”, according to what was published by the agency Telam. “Next, a large-scale trial of the drug is planned in 3,000 volunteers,” the note said. Previously, Russian Security Council Vice President Dmitry Medvedev announced that production of the vaccine could begin this month or March.

So far, Russian health authorities have approved the emergency use of the Sputnik V vaccines, from the Gamaleya center, and EpiVacCorona, from the vector virology and biotechnology center. Regarding Sputnik V, administered in Argentina, the possibility of carrying out clinical trials in children and adolescents is already under discussion, according to Alexei Kuznetsov, adviser at the Ministry of Health.

“The question of conducting clinical trials on the use of the Sputnik V vaccine in children and adolescents under the age of 18 is under consideration, but the decision will be made after obtaining the results of the main vaccine post-registration study, which developers plan to complete in May, ”he said. Earlier, the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, announced that a hospital in the capital would conduct three stages of research on the use of Sputnik V for adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 and, therefore, they will be able to include them. in the massive countryside.

At the end of January, the Gamaleya Center, developer of Sputnik V, announced that it planned to test the drug on minors in 2021, and this month, the center’s director, Alexandr Guintsburg, expressed hope that the investigation would begin in June. Sputnik V, the first registered coronavirus vaccine, consists of two doses applied 21 days apart: the first is based on human adenovirus type 26 and the second on recombinant human adenovirus type 5.

It has an efficiency of 91.6% and it has been shown to be safe and the response in those over 60 is similar to that of the rest of the population, according to phase 3 results published in the British journal The Lancet.

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