Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Gamaleya Research Center, which created the “Sputnik V” vaccine, is working on a “light vaccine” with a single injection and a shorter period of antibody production against Covid-19. The head of the center, Alexander Gintsburg, clarified that the “light vaccine” is planned to be supplied to other countries.
“We also have an option – to create what specialists call a “light vaccine” based on Gamaleya. It will require only one vaccination, it will work for a shorter period, the level of protection will be lower, but it will still reach up to 85%. However, it will be possible to produce it in tens of millions”, said the president after his annual press conference. Such a development of the research center has not been reported before.
According to the deputy director for scientific work at the Gamaleya Center, Denis Logunov, there are “some developments” of such a vaccine. He refused to disclose at what stage they are and what kind of drug it is, asking to contact the Ministry of Health. The BBC has sent a request to the ministry and is waiting for an answer.
“The president today unveiled a project that we have been working on for some time. The Russian Direct Investment Fund is covering the costs of the Gamaleya Institute for the necessary clinical trials of what is called ‘Sputnik V-Light’. This is a single-component vaccine that will provide varying levels of protection, up to 85% for a certain category of citizens, and perhaps a little less for others,” Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which is financing the vaccine’s production, said in an interview with the Russia 24 television channel.
“No industry can quickly produce the necessary amount of coronavirus vaccine in the conditions of a pandemic,” Alexander Gintsburg said shortly after Putin’s words on the “Russia 24” TV channel. It is true that even if all the world’s manufacturing facilities were retooled to produce a coronavirus vaccine sufficient for all the world’s population, it would take more than a year, according to The Economist. In addition, vector vaccines such as Sputnik V or AstraZeneca’s vaccine consist of two components – in other words, the necessary capacities would have to be doubled. President Putin has spoken openly about production capacity problems. “The only problem Russia needs to solve to start mass production of COVID-19 vaccines is the lack of equipment,” he said in late October. In “Sputnik”, the first component is made on the basis of adenovirus serotype 26, and the second – adenovirus serotype 5. As reported by The Wall Street Journal and “Meduza” with reference to sources, Russia has faced problems with the second component – it turned out to be more difficult to produce.
“The first dose of the vaccine can now be produced by all manufacturers, there are already several million doses available – and it is possible to produce even 10 million. But there is a shortage of the second dose, and now no one can say how many of them are available,” a source told “Meduza” on December 4. The situation with the mass production of “Sputnik” is unique – until now such vaccines have not been produced in millions of doses anywhere in the world, said Ilya Yasny, head of scientific expertise at the venture pharmaceutical fund Inbio Ventures, in an interview with the BBC.
According to Gintsburg, the “light vaccine” against Covid-19 “will not work 100%, but rather slightly differently for different categories of vaccinated individuals. “This approach will allow us to cover a large population and prevent severe cases with fatal outcomes. At the same time, the duration of the effect will be short,” the scientist said. At the same time, this version of the vaccine will be supplied abroad, while Russians will continue to be vaccinated with a two-component vaccine, he noted.
Gintsburg added that the second component of the “Sputnik V” vaccine enhances the first and allows for the formation of memory cells via immunity (i.e. immunity that cannot be evaluated by antibodies, but rather by cells). “We immediately created two components of this vaccine, the second component strengthens the effect of the first, and not only strengthens it, but also allows the formation of memory cells, which will protect us for a long time as a result of repeated vaccination,” he said on the air of the TV channel “Russia 24”. He did not specify whether this means that the “light vaccine” is called the first injection of “Sputnik V”, and this is not a new drug.
After the mass vaccination of doctors with “Sputnik V” began in November, there were reports of several doctors falling ill after the first inoculation. In particular, three out of 42 doctors in the Altai region were infected. The authorities have explained this by saying that the vaccine only becomes fully effective after the second injection, and that the immunity developed after the first injection is evaluated prematurely. A vaccinated person is considered to be protected from Covid-19 only three weeks after the second vaccination, as the process of immunity formation continues during this period. The Ministry of Health of Russia explained that the reason for the infection of medical workers was that by the time they came into contact with the virus, their immunity had not yet been formed. According to preliminary research results, 20 infected individuals were identified among more than 16,000 volunteers observed during the third phase of the study prior to the second injection. There is no data on who received the vaccine and who received the placebo. The vaccine’s efficacy has been preliminarily estimated at 92% – however, this contradicts earlier statements by the Ministry of Health that immunity is not considered fully established after the first injection. According to the Ministry of Health, the vaccine does not start working until 42 days after the first injection, provided that the second injection is given. The Gamaleya Center has not commented on this discrepancy in any way. It is not yet clear whether separate trials will be conducted on the “light vaccine” or whether the preliminary data announced by the RDIF will be considered their results. In Russia, a large-scale vaccination with “Sputnik V” has already begun – last week, in addition to teachers, doctors and social workers, employees of the media, industry and transport in Moscow began to be vaccinated. As the Russian service of the BBC reported, there are enough vaccines for everyone in the capital, and there is even a surplus. However, the vaccine is being delivered to the regions in limited quantities – usually from several tens to five thousand doses. Some regions are still waiting for vaccine to arrive.