Phase III trial reveals 91.4% efficacy for Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, with jab '100% effective' against severe cases

Following a large scale trial, Russia's pioneering Sputnik V vaccine has proven to be 91.4 percent effective overall against Covid-19, its creator said on Monday, as the country embarks on a national mass vaccination program.

In a statement, Moscow's Gamaleya Institute and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which funded the vaccine’s development, cited data received from volunteers 21 days after they were inoculated with the first dose of the jab. The results confirmed a 91.4 percent efficacy rate overall and showed that it is “100 percent” effective against severe cases of the virus.

In practice this means that while some of the formula's recipients may still become infected, their cases will be mild. 

“Among the confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, 20 severe cases were recorded in the placebo group, while no severe cases were recorded in the vaccine group,” the statement reads. 

At the third and final control point of the trial, 22,714 volunteers received the first and second doses of the Sputnik V vaccine or placebo, and no adverse health effects were reported.

The Gamaleya Institute says Phase III clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine were conducted in compliance with the best international standards and practices. 

The institute said that the high efficacy rate was confirmed at each of the three stages of clinical trials, and that it would now proceed to apply for “accelerated registration” of the vaccine in various countries.

“It is important that at each stage the calculated vaccine efficiency rate exceeded 90 percent,” said Denis Logunov, the Gamaleya Center’s deputy director, adding that the institute would share the results with the international scientific community and that monitoring of participants will continue.

More than 50 countries have applied to purchase upwards of 1.2 billion doses of the vaccine. The doses for international distribution will be produced in India, Brazil, China, South Korea, and other countries.

Russia began its mass vaccination program earlier this month, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying last week that the jab would arrive in all of the country’s regions by the end of this year.

The Sputnik V vaccine was registered by Russia's Health Ministry on August 11, becoming the world's first registered formula against Covid-19.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!