Single-Dose Sputnik Light Covid-19 Vaccine With Efficacy Of Nearly 80 Per Cent Authorised For Use In Russia

The Russian Ministry of Health has authorised Sputnik Light, a single dose COVID-19 vaccine, for use in Russia, the vaccine developer said on Thursday (6 May).

Sputnik Light is the first component (recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26)) of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.

The single dose Sputnik Light vaccine demonstrated 79.4 per cent efficacy according to analyzed data taken from 28 days after the injection was administered.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which helped finance the development of the vaccine, said that an efficacy level of near 80 per cent is higher than that of many two-dose vaccines.

The efficacy rate was calculated based on data obtained from Russians vaccinated with a single injection, having not received the second one for any reason during the mass vaccination program between 5 December and 15 April.

The results demonstrated that the vaccine can elicit the development of antigen specific IgG antibodies in 96.9 per cent of volunteers on the 28th day after immunisation, it added.

Further, virus-neutralizing antibodies developed in 91.67 per cent of volunteers on the 28th day post immunisation, while cellular immune response against the S Protein of SARS-CoV-2 developed in 100 per cent of participants, according to RDIF.

It should be noted that one-dose regimen of Sputnik light vaccine will allow for immunisation of a larger number of people in a shorter time frame, helping the Covid-19 vaccination drive globally.

The development comes as India had earlier last month approved the two-dose Sputnik V Covid-19 for emergency use in the country and the first consignment of the jab landed in the country on 1 May, which will be used in nationwide Covid vaccination drive in the coming weeks.