Just days after vaccine developers Pfizer and BioNTech released information stating that their vaccine is 90 per cent effective, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said, today, that Sputnik V, Russia’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine is 92% effective at protecting people from COVID-19.
The results are based on data from the first 16,000 trial participants to receive both shots of the two-dose vaccine.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has been actively involved in assisting its development and marketing. In a statement released to the public, RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev said,.”We are showing, based on the data, that we have a very effective vaccine,” said. He believes this classifies as crucial news.
“The platform of human adenoviral vectors, which is the core of the Russian vaccine, has been tested in more than 250 clinical studies over decades, and it has been found safe with no potential negative long-term consequences.” Dmitriev said.
“More and more countries are recognizing the human adenoviral vector platform and plan to include these vaccines, as the most studied and known, in their respective national vaccine portfolio,” he added.
Scientists have voiced concerns over the fast rate at which Russia has worked, giving regulatory go ahead for the shot and launching a mass vaccination program before full trials to test its safety and efficacy had been completed.
Professor Francois Balloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute, said in response to Russia’s previous record of hastily approved trial vaccines. “This is a reckless and foolish decision. Mass vaccination with an improperly tested vaccine is unethical.”
