MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian trial testing the effectiveness of vaccination with the Sputnik V shot to protect new coronavirus mutations yields strong results, researchers said on Saturday.
Last month, on March 15, President Vladimir Putin ordered a review of Russia’s manufactured vaccines for their effectiveness against new variants spreading in different parts of the world.
“(A) Recent studies conducted by the Gamaleya Center in Russia have shown that vaccination with Sputnik V vaccine works very well against new coronavirus mutations, including the British and South African coronavirus strains,” said Denis Logunov, Deputy Director of the center, who developed the Sputnik V shot.
The outcome of the trial is expected to be published soon, but it was the first indication of how the tests are going. No further details were available yet.
So-called viral vector surveys – such as Sputnik V and a survey developed by AstraZeneca – use harmless modified viruses as vehicles or vectors to carry genetic information that helps the body build immunity against future infections.
The revaccination used the same Sputnik V shot, based on the same adenovirus vectors. The trial has shown that it does not affect effectiveness, Logunov told Reuters in a statement.
Some scientists have increased the potential risk that the body will also develop immunity to the vector itself, by recognizing it as an invader and trying to destroy it.
But developers of Sputnik V do not agree that it will pose long-term problems.
“We believe that vaccines based on vectors are actually better for future revaccinations than vaccines based on other platforms,” Logunov said.
He said the researchers found that antibodies specific for the vectors used by the shot – which can cause an anti-vector reaction and undermine the work of the shot itself – ‘decrease as early as 56 days after vaccination ‘.
This conclusion was based on a trial of a vaccine against Ebola developed earlier by the Gamaleya Institute, using the same approach as for the Sputnik V shot.
Vector immunity is not a new issue, but it has been re-examined as companies, including Johnson & Johnson, expect regular COVID-19 vaccinations, such as annual flu shots, to be needed to introduce new variants of the coronavirus. combat.
(Reporting and writing by Polina Ivanova; editing by Frances Kerry)