why they only sent the first dose of the Russian vaccine

The first major international shipment from Russia of its 300,000-dose Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to Argentina consisted of only in the first dosebecause it is easier to prepare than the second, according to Reuters. According to this information, there are delays in the production of the second component.

Unlike other Covid-19 vaccines, which are given as two injections of the same product, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is based on two doses given with different inactive viruses, called vectors.

The Gamaleya Institute, which developed the vaccine, says it has a efficiency greater than 91% after two doses, but some Russian manufacturers find that the second dose, administered 21 days after the first, is less stabletwo sources quoted by Reuters said.

Russia did not say exactly how many people received it. The Gamaleya Institute reported last week that 650,000 doses have been released to date for Russia’s national immunization program.

Argentina is the first foreign country, apart from Belarus, to authorize Sputnik V, a victory for the Moscow campaign to obtain the international blessing for their vaccine. In Argentina, everything would be ready for the vaccination campaign to begin on Tuesday.

A source close to the manufacturing process and another from the government told Reuters that the shipment included only excessive doses of the first component, which had been produced in larger quantities than the second.

The source close to the manufacturing process added that vaccine makers are now working on equalize the production of the two components.

“It is true that technological problems they persist (…) More of the first component is produced per liter in the bioreactors than of the second dose, ”he explains.

“But a lot of producers are just installing more bioreactors to produce the second dose. That’s it. If your reactor is producing less per liter, then you need more capacity,” the source added.

Generium, one of the private Russian pharmaceutical companies responsible for producing Sputnik V, said it is currently producing both components of the vaccine. in equal quantities.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which markets Sputnik V abroad and which arranged the delivery to Argentina, declined to comment on the challenges of producing the second dose, or whether the booster injections would soon be shipped to Argentina.

The Russian Ministry of Health, which oversees the Gamaleya Institute, also did not respond. Argentine officials, according to Reuters, could not be reached immediately for comment.

Vaccine in “light version”

Various vaccine manufacturers around the world consider the possibility of using only the first component.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called a one-component option a “diet vaccine” which he said would offer less protection than the two components, but “will still reach 85%.”

The director of the Gamaleya Institute, Alexander Gintsburg, noted that the protective immunity after the first injection of Sputnik V lasts about 3 to 4 months, according to the TASS news agency.

PS