Single shot of Sputnik V effective against Covid hospitalization & deaths among elderly – Argentine study published by The Lancet

A single dose of the pioneering Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine better protects the elderly against serious Covid-19 infections than a similar regime of certain other leading vaccines, a major new study from Argentina has shown.

The findings were published online by the EClinicalMedicine, which is run by the British peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet. 

A team of researchers from Argentina analyzed the data of people who self-registered on the online vaccination system of the Buenos Aires Province between December 29, 2020 and March 21, 2021. Overall, they looked at nearly 416,000 people who received a first dose of Sputnik V, including around 40,400 people aged 60-79, who were compared to 39,000 unvaccinated Argentinians. 

The research showed that the vaccine was 78.6% effective at preventing Covid-19 infections, 87.6% effective at reducing hospitalizations and 84.8% effective at preventing deaths of people aged 60-79. The vaccine’s efficacy was consistent across all other groups, the team said. 

For comparison, the scientists summarized eight different studies on the Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca/Oxford, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines that included people who received one dose. The reported effectiveness of these four vaccines in preventing symptomatic infection, hospitalizations and deaths ranged from 51-76%, 66.9-91% and 85-91% respectively, they concluded.

Earlier this year, Russia registered Sputnik Light, a single-shot vaccine that is essentially the first component of Sputnik V, which is administered in two shots. The first doses of Sputnik V arrived in Argentina in December 2020. 

According to Argentina's Health Ministry figures, the country has received some 9.7 million doses of Sputnik V's first shot from Russia, as well as over 3.3 million doses of the second. While deliveries from Russia continue, Argentina has also been producing Sputnik V at home. 

Local production was launched by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the agency that bankrolled the vaccine's development, as well as by Argentinean drug maker Laboratorios Richmond SACIF earlier this year. So far, the company has produced a total of 2.5 million Sputnik V shots – both first and second doses – intended for the domestic market.

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