Russia says Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is 95 per cent effective
- Developers said the vaccine will be available on international markets for less than US$10 per dose and will be free for Russian citizens
- Overseas trials of the vaccine are also taking place in the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Belarus and other countries
Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is 95 per cent effective according to a second interim analysis of clinical trial data, its developers said on Tuesday.
The two-dose vaccine will be available on international markets for less than US$10 (€8.40) per dose, they said, and will be free for Russian citizens.
It can be stored at between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, they said, instead of the temperatures below freezing required for some other vaccines.
The calculations of its effectiveness were based on preliminary data obtained 42 days after the first dose, Russia’s health ministry, the state-run Gamaleya research centre and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement.
The statement said that the vaccine had shown 91.4 per cent effectiveness 28 days after the first dose, a figure based on 39 cases.
Forty-two days later, after a second dose, data showed “an efficacy of the vaccine above 95 per cent”.
