Yesterday, 6th April 2021, the Russian Ministry of Health, the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) announced that Sputnik Light, a single dose COVID-19 vaccine, has received authorization for use in Russia.
Sputnik Light is the first vaccine dose used in Sputnik V vaccine. It uses the rAD26 adenoviral vector to deliver the cDNA strand with coding sequence for the spike protein of the Covid 19 virus. According to initial studies this single dose vaccine have shown an efficacy of 79.4% after 28 days of the administration. The researchers have used the data collected after the mass vaccination program conducted in Russia during 5th December 2020 to 15th April 2021. This value of almost 80% is higher than many two dose vaccines that are in use at present.
According to the press release issued by RDF, the efficacy of the vaccine had been calculated by researchers using the following formula,
As of May 5, 2021, more than 20 million people globally have received the first injection of the Sputnik V vaccine, containing the first component. There have been no cases of Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis (CVST) reported. The production of the vaccine meets the strictest standards, with four stages of purification (two chromatographic stages and two stages of tangential filtration).
ad26 and ad5 adenoviral vectors used in Sputnik Vaccines have a proven track record of over 250 clinical trials conducted globally.
Sputnik V will be the main vaccine against COVID 19 in Sri Lanka: Minister Jayasumana
According to State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof Channa Jayasumana, Sputnik V is going to be the main vaccine against COVID 19 here in Sri Lanka. Prof Jayasumana expressed these views to media reporters on 6th May during a function in Colombo. And at the same time state officials are on the look for securing at least 600000 doses of Astazeneca Vaccine as we are running out of time to give the second dose of the vaccine to those who received the first dose.
