The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced on May 6 that it had authorized the use of one-shot Sputnik Light. The Sputnik Light is a single-dose coronavirus vaccine with 80 percent efficacy, the Russian authorities have said.
The vaccine developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute is 79.4 percent effective against COVID-19, according to the RDIF. Sputnik Light will cost under $10 per dose and has been earmarked for export.
The RDIF said in a statement: “The single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine demonstrated 79.4 percent efficacy according to analyzed data taken from 28 days after the injection was administered as part of Russia’s mass vaccination program between 5 December 2020 and 15 April 2021.”
Russia’s first vaccine candidate Sputnik V is 97.6 percent effective in preventing COVID-19, scientists had said basing their assessment on data from 3.8 million people.
India has already received 1.5 lakh doses of Sputnik V, and another 1.5 lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in the next two days.
The interim result of the phase III trials of the new Russian vaccine candidate is expected to come out by May end. The trials involved a sample set of 7,000 and were being conducted across a few countries, including Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
Speaking about the benefits of single-shot vaccines such as Sputnik Light, RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev said: “The single-dose regimen solves the challenge of immunizing large groups in a shorter time, which is especially important during the acute phase of the spread of coronavirus, achieving herd immunity faster.”