Now Vladimir Putin says Russia could make “light” Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for export

The uncertainty and controversy over the coronavirus vaccine continues to grow. After admitting that Sputnik V has yet to be approved for over 60s, which has been a real blow to the Argentine government, Vladimir Putin has now raised the possibility of developing a “light” product for the export.

“One of the options we have is to create the so-called ‘light’ vaccine from the Gamaleya Center., only one injection will be given which works for a shorter time and has a reduced level of protection but that the same reaches 85% efficiency, despite this it can be applied to tens of millions “of people, said the Russian leader according to the official agency Sputnik.

The information was ratified by the director general of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kiril Dmitriev.

“The RDIF has covered the expenses of the Gamaleya Institute for the necessary tests since [la vacuna] Sputnik V-light “Dmitriev assured.

According to the official, the new drug will guarantee different levels of protection depending on individual characteristics, but its effectiveness, however, can reach 85%.

“This vaccine can primarily target foreign markets where there are strong epidemiological foci, and we are seeing significant demand for this vaccine and approach from several foreign countries,” said Dmitriev. Anyway, he clarified that Russia will opt for the main Sputnik V vaccine.

On Thursday, the Argentine government was shocked after Putin publicly stated that the Sputnik V vaccine had not yet been applied because it had not yet been approved for people over 60 (he is 68 years old), just when a delegation is in Russia. Argentina has finished defining the arrival in the country of the first 600,000 doses of this development.

“I I follow the recommendations of our specialists and that is why so far I have not had the vaccine, but I will do it without fail when possible, ”the Kremlin chief said when answering a question of whether he had been vaccinated.

This situation caused a day of back-and-forth in the executive, with clarifications, denials and even contradictory statements, which was one more chapter of the marches and counter-marches that had existed since the beginning of the pandemic.

Finally, the government has assured that the first doses of the Russian vaccine will arrive in the country on December 24 and will be applied, in the first place, to those under the age of 60 until Russia approves it for people older than this. age group.

A known fact

Beyond the controversy and what Putin’s statements generated, the fact that Sputnik V does not yet have the health certifications to be used in those over 60 was already known within the scientific community, as it was included. in all Russian reports and even in the publications of the prestigious scientific journal The Lancet.

The data that in Argentina became an unexpected novelty was included in the first reports on Sputnik V testing. Namely, the chronological order indicates that Putin presented the vaccine on August 11, boasting that his country was a pioneer for find the antidote, and that the first details were made public in the first days of September.

At that time, The Lancet – a prestigious British journal on medicine – published the report on the tests that were carried out with Sputnik V in phase 1 and 2. “We conducted two open, non-randomized phase 1/2 studies in two hospitals We recruited healthy adult volunteers (men and women) aged 18 to 60 years in the two studies, ”reported the Russian scientists leading this promising work.

The results of all these advances have also been incorporated into the US National Library of Medicine’s Register of “Clinical Trials”. In this official documentation also It appears that the vaccine has only been tested on volunteers between the ages of 18 and 60.

JPE