Russia ’Sputnik V’ vaccine: Over 3,000 people vaccinated in Moscow, says report

Just over a month of launching Russia's 'Sputnik V' vaccine against the novel coronavirus, the Russian government on Monday said that over 3,000 Moscow residents have got the dose of its first Covid-19 vaccine till now, according to a report.

"More than 3,000 volunteers have already been vaccinated against the coronavirus. None of them have problems. People feel good. I myself went through this vaccination procedure and you see - nothing happened to me, although several months have already passed," said the mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin, as per Russian news agency Tass.

However, amid the surging cases in the country's capital, Sobyanin on Friday ordered the elderly to stay at home and recommended employers allow home working.

Sobyanin said Muscovites over 65 years old should stay at home from Monday and shop rarely, while walks outside remain unrestricted.

Last week, the government had said that over 60,000 volunteers have signed up for Sputnik V in Moscow, according to a report.

More than 700 people have been injected with the coronavirus vaccine and "all of them are feeling good," he had said.

Sputnik V Covid vaccine is developed by Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology under the Russian Health Ministry.

On August 11, Russia became the first country to license a Covid-19 vaccine, calling it "Sputnik V" in homage to the world's first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union. But western experts have warned against its use until all internationally approved testing and regulatory steps have been taken. The vaccine is undergoing Phase 3 trials.

The vaccine produced an antibody response in all participants in early-stage trials, according to results published by The Lancet medical journal earlier that were hailed by Moscow as an answer to its critics.

The results of the two trials, conducted in June-July this year and involving 76 participants, showed 100% of participants developing antibodies to the new coronavirus and no serious side effects, The Lancet said.

However, a group of international scientists questioned results from the Lancet medical journal, saying some of the findings appeared improbable, reported Bloomberg.

The researchers flagged concerns over seemingly identical levels of antibodies in a number of study participants who were inoculated with the experimental vaccine. This and other patterns in the data present “several different points of concern," according to an open letter written by Temple University professor Enrico Bucci and signed by more than a dozen other scientists.

Meanwhile, Russia has registered 8,135 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, highest in June, bringing the cumulative case total to 1,159,573, the coronavirus response center said on Monday.

The largest increase was identified in Moscow, where 2,217 new positive tests were registered. A total of 237 new cases were identified in St. Petersburg and 212 were confirmed in the Moscow region. No new cases were recorded in the Republic of Adygea.

Back in India, Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, which has recently been roped in for Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing, said that it could begin late-stage clinical trials of Russia's potential coronavirus vaccine in the next few weeks, Reuters reported while citing an executive.

"Indian trials of the Sputnik-V vaccine candidate, being developed by Russia's sovereign wealth fund, will enroll 1,000-2,000 participants and be conducted at multiple government and private hospitals across the country," Deepak Sapra, CEO for API and pharmaceutical services at Dr. Reddy's, told Reuters.

The trials are part of a deal between the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Dr Reddy's, in which the Indian firm will conduct Phase III studies in the country.

With inputs from agencies