How effective is Sputnik V against the Delta variant?
Despite the appearance of new variants of Covid-19, all Russian vaccines have proven their effectiveness. The Russian Minister of Health stressed that that of Sputnik V amounts to nearly 83%.
As the Delta variant spreads around the world and explodes the number of cases, Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko has indicated that the effectiveness of the Sputnik V vaccine against this strain is around 83%.
“Today, the Sputnik V vaccine shows the most effective results in the prevention and control of the Delta variant,” he told reporters on August 11.
The minister also highlighted that the vaccine protects more than 95% against serious forms of Covid-19: “It remains effective and continues to work”.
“A safe and effective vaccine”
The effectiveness of Sputnik V against the Delta variant has been mentioned on several occasions by doctors, including Alexandre Guinzbourg, director of the Gamaleïa center, manufacturer of the vaccine.
“As commercial experience shows, the vaccine is safe and effective. It is effective not only against the variants for which it was created, but also against the many variants that have recently appeared and which constantly attack us,” exposes the director of the center on Wednesday, August 11.
An assertion confirmed by several studies, including the one published on July 12 in the international journal Vaccines. According to its results, the Russian vaccine retains its protective capacities against the new variants.
The EU is still reluctant
However, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) does not rush to approve it. Sputnik V has been under review since the beginning of March.
At the end of June, the head of the Italian government, Mario Draghi, declared during a European summit that Sputnik V “could never obtain the approval of the EMA”, without giving more details. For his part, the Secretary of State in charge of European Affairs, Clément Beaune, said that the European health pass would recognize only vaccines authorized by the EMA.
On August 2, however, the European Commission announced that vaccination certificates issued in the Republic of San Marino, where the Russian anti-Covid vaccine is widely used, will now be recognized throughout the European Union and in Schengen area countries.
The effectiveness of other Russian vaccines
Sputnik V is not the only Russian vaccine effective against the new variants. The other three approved in Russia – the Vector center EpiVacCorona, the Chumakov center CoviVac and the Sputnik Light – are also to be considered.
“Areas not very prone to mutations of the new coronavirus form the basis of the EpiVacCorona vaccine. Our regular analysis of new SARS-CoV-2 mutations shows that they do not affect the peptides used in the vaccine,” the Vector center explained to Russian News on July 22.
On July 2, Aydar Ichmoukhametov, director of the Tchoumakov center, noted that the studies carried out showed comparable results on the immunological efficacy of the CoviVac vaccine against the Delta variant in comparison with the Alpha variant.
