Russia approves single-dose Sputnik Light coronavirus vaccine

The developers of the slimmed-down vaccine said the jab is 79.4 per cent effective against Covid-19
The Russian shot has been approved for use in over 60 countries

Coronavirus pandemic

Agence France-Presse

Published: 8:59pm, 6 May 2021

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Health officials in Russia approved a single-dose version of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the developers of the shot said on Thursday.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which helped finance the vaccine, said in a statement that Sputnik Light “demonstrated 79.4 per cent efficacy” compared to 91.6 per cent for the two-shot Sputnik V.

The results, it said, were drawn from “data taken from 28 days after the injection was administered as part of Russia’s mass vaccination programme between 5 December 2020 and 15 April 2021”.

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The Russian vaccine has been approved for use in over 60 countries.

But it has not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Some Western countries have been wary of Sputnik V – named after the Soviet-era satellite – over concerns the Kremlin would use it as a soft power tool to advance its interests.

Moscow registered the jab in August before large-scale clinical trials, but leading medical journal The Lancet has since said it is safe and with two doses is more than 90 per cent effective.

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A statement said that the state-run Gamaleya research institute, which developed Sputnik V vaccine, and RDIF had launched third-phrase trials of Sputnik in several countries, including Russia, the UAE and Ghana, in February involving 7,000 people with interim results expected this year.

It said more than 20 million people globally have received their first shot of Sputnik V.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he supported the idea of a waiver on patent protections for coronavirus vaccines and urged his government to consider lifting them for Russia’s jabs.

A campaign to lift patent protections on Covid-19 shots picked up steam on Thursday, with French, German and EU leadership saying they were ready to discuss a proposal by US President Joe Biden before Putin added his voice in support.

“We are hearing from Europe an idea that, in my opinion, deserves attention – namely, to remove patent protections from vaccines against Covid-19 altogether,” Putin said during a televised meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova.

“Russia would of course support such an approach,” Putin said, urging Golikova to work out the logistics.

“As I have said many times … We should not think about how to extract maximum profit, but about how to ensure people’s safety.”

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