Russia Says Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine Over 95% Effective

Russia's Sputnik V vaccine has been discovered to be over 95 percent effective against COVID-19 in the second interim analysis of its Phase 3 clinical trial.

Sputnik V Vaccine 95 Percent Effective

According to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Russia's health ministry, the Gamaleya research center, the tabulations were based on preliminary data acquired 42 days following the first dose.

The effectiveness is based on a second interim analysis of clinical trial data.

According to developers, the two-dose vaccine would be available on international markets for less than $10 per dose. It would be available for free for Russian citizens, reported The Times of Israel.

The evaluation was based on data from volunteers, which corresponds with 21 days following the second dose.

Also, based on data acquired 28 days after administering the first dose, and one week following the second dose, Sputnik V's efficacy was found to be 91.4 percent.

According to Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko in a statement, "The data demonstrating high efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine gives us hope that we will soon obtain the most important tool in the fight against the pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection," reported Sambad English.

On Tuesday, Russia said its Sputnik V novel coronavirus vaccine would be cheaper and easier to stockpile than its contemporaries as the global race sears to create a shot. This is notwithstanding experts raising questions over the low number of cases reviewed.

The coronavirus vaccine would cost less than $10 a dose and be available in international markets starting February 2021, according to its creator Gamaleya Center and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. This is the most recent in a flurry of breakthroughs as numerous vaccine makers worldwide published preliminary data displaying high efficacy rates in the previous three weeks.

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The fund promised in a statement that the two-shot jab would be ''two or more times cheaper'' than Western alternatives by Pfizer and Moderna, which cost around $20 and $15-25 per dose respectively, based on agreements the companies have made to supply their vaccines to the United States government.

Countries are looking to start administering vaccines to their populations by the end of 2020 or early 2021 to stop a pandemic that has led to nearly 1.4 million fatalities.

Russia was one of the first to declare the creation of a vaccine in August dubbed Sputnik V after the Soviet-era satellite but before the beginning of final clinical trials.

According to developers, Sputnik V can be stored from two to eight degrees Celsius (between 35.6 and 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit) instead of the temperatures below freezing needed for some other vaccines.

The data did not indicate the number of COVID-19 cases used to make the final tabulation.

"The second analysis was conducted a week after volunteers got the second dose, meaning that their bodies have partially reacted to both doses," according to Gamaleya's director Alexander Gintsburg, reported Philippines Lifestyle News.

Three weeks after the second dose, Gintsburg stated the center expects the effectiveness rate to be higher.