Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

The world's first two-component vaccine against the Gam-COVID-Vac coronavirus was officially registered on 12 August. Its second name is "Sputnik V". This is a reference to the first artificial satellite of the USSR, launched in 1957.

How the vaccine works

The production technology of the drug is not new. It has been known for several decades, and its developers have long been awarded the Nobel Prize. The bottom line is to take a virus and edit its genetic code in several stages:

1. Remove parts of the genome that are responsible for the reproduction of the virus. This will prevent him from provoking a new disease.
2. Take the part of the coronavirus gene code that is responsible for the production of specific proteins. It is necessary to choose exactly those to which the human immune system reacts and produces antibodies.
3. Combine the truncated genocode of the two viruses and introduce them to form immunity.

The result is a virus that cannot kill human cells, but forces them to produce bodies on which the immune system "trains to defend itself" against the coronavirus. At the same time, it is impossible to become infected with COVID-19, since the virus is not capable of fully copying and recreating the infection.

The Sputnik V vaccine contains 2 adenoviruses AD5 and AD26. Normally, they cause intestinal diseases in humans. The researchers opted for adenoviruses, simply because their genotype has been fully understood. It is much easier to work with such material.

The vaccine is named two-component because it uses 2 different viruses. This is necessary in order to create full-fledged immunity against COVID-19. In this case, it is impossible to use only one adenovirus as a basis, because in this case, the human body, when it is reintroduced, will simply destroy the infection immediately, not allowing it to develop a sufficient amount of antibodies.

According to the instructions, the Sputnik V vaccine is administered in 2 stages. As a result, a person develops a strong immunity to COVID-19. According to the results of the study, it is about 1.5 times higher than after a previous illness.

Criticism of the drug

In the news, you can often see information that the Russian Gam-COVID-Vak allegedly has many shortcomings:

1. Has not gone through a full-fledged study. Any vaccine must go through 3 stages of study. The first examines the effect on animals. Then there is efficiency when used by humans. The last one is the long-term consequences. And it doesn't matter who the manufacturer is, at the time of registration the Sputnik V vaccine passed only the first 2 stages.
2. Has many side effects. The publication of the publication "Fontanka" says that their employees have studied the documents of the manufacturer of the vaccine. According to the records, tests were performed on fewer than 40 subjects. At the same time, they found 144 side effects, many of which are of a prolonged nature.
3. Difficult to store and transport. Ampoules must be transported only at temperatures below -18 ° C. Before use, they are warmed at room temperature for no more than half an hour. The drug should not be shaken or re-frozen.

Another thesis against the Russian vaccine was the fact that the leadership of the center. Gamalei, who developed Sputnik V, has not released research data to support its effectiveness against the coronavirus.

Because of this, the Swiss geneticist François Ballou considered the registration of the drug exclusively a political move. It was supported by scientists from the USA and a number of European countries.

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How safe and effective is the vaccine?

Answering questions about the development of the Gamaleya center, its director Alexander Ginsburg tried to dispel people's doubts on August 11 in his interview to Interfax. According to him:

1. European analogs of vaccines are created using the same technology. The only difference is that the adenovirus is from monkeys, not humans. Because of this, the strength of the defensive reaction suffers, so the final quality will be lower.
2. Contraindications to Sputnik V remain standard for all vaccines of this type. These are chronic autoimmune diseases, including allergic reactions to the viral component. There is no danger to the fetus, according to embryological studies. Safety tests for vaccination of children will be conducted in 2021.
3. The amazing speed of drug development is due to the fact that it repeats 80% of the drugs already developed in the past for Ebola and SARS. The only difference is the replacement of the embedded genome with a coronavirus one. This technology is already 25 years old, and it has proven its safety many times.

And on September 4, the British edition of The Lancet, which has been the leader in the publication of medical scientific articles for about 200 years, published research data from the Gamaleya Institute. According to information verified by foreign scientists, it turned out the following:

1. During the first two stages of the vaccine study, no serious side effects from the use of Sputnik V were found. For comparison: the best world analogues have undesirable phenomena in 1–25% of cases.
2. When using Gam-COVID-Vac, stable immunity is formed on the basis of T-cells. Thanks to this, protection against coronavirus is provided for a period of about two years.
3. The use of two types of adenoviruses allows you to overcome the immune defense in people who have had adenovirus infection earlier. As a result, the vaccine is 100% effective.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, also noted that one should not underestimate the small number of subjects in the first phases of research (76 people). For comparison, he cited research by the British company AstraZeneca.

To create their own vaccine, they tested it on 1,077 volunteers. However, the final product was tested only 10 times, which is much less than that of the Russians.

Separately, he drew attention to the fact that Russian scientists did not steal an idea or technology. They also did not miss the required studies to register an unsafe product. The rapid development of the Sputnik V vaccine is exclusively the result of systematic work on the project over decades. This gave Russian scientists an advantage over their foreign colleagues.

When will vaccination start

Despite the fact that the vaccine was registered on August 12, the drug was not released into circulation. According to the Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko, only the first batch has undergone a full study by Roszdravnadzor and has been released into circulation since September 9. The drug is sent to different regions of the Russian Federation for use on volunteers.

Mass vaccination in Russia is not yet planned. Considering that the drug will complete the third stage of tests only in October-November, it will be widely used towards the end of 2020. This information was confirmed in his statement by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

At the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the use of Gam-COVID-Vak for Russian citizens will be free of charge. But this does not mean that the creators of the drug will not earn anything. So far, we know about two options for monetizing the project:

1. Alexander Ginsburg openly stated in an interview that the drug was patented back in July. Therefore, the Gamaleya Center is counting on royalties from the sale of the patent.
2. The chairman of the board of directors of R-Pharm, Alexander Repik, speaking with reporters, said that the Sputnik V vaccine would be free only for Russians. The price for overseas consumers will be about $ 10 for 2 injections.

Considering that the order for 1 billion doses of the vaccine has already been announced, the potential income is easy to calculate. It remains only to wait for the final results of the coronavirus vaccine study in order to decide exactly whether it is worth using Sputnik V or its foreign counterparts.

Summarize

1. The Sputnik V vaccine was registered on August 12, and on September 9 it was put into circulation on the territory of the Russian Federation.
2. The effectiveness and safety of the vaccine has been proven by Russian scientists, and confirmed in the UK.
3. Mass vaccination in the Russian Federation will begin at the end of 2020.
4. For Russians, the vaccine is free.