The Gamaleya Center is completing the second phase of clinical trials of a Russian single-component vaccine against a new coronavirus infection, Sputnik Light. Alexander Gintsburg, director of the center, said this on Friday in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.
"The Gamaleya Institute has actually managed to conduct the first phase and is now finishing the second phase of clinical trials of this drug," he said.
Gintsburg added that Sputnik Light will not be used in the Russian Federation. "This drug ["Sputnik Light"], which consists only of the first component of the vaccine that we use ["Sputnik V"], will be used in countries that are not currently able to develop similar drugs themselves. They don't have enough money to buy the drugs that are being developed in other countries in time," Gintsburg said.
The director of the center noted that the Sputnik Light vaccine is aimed at eliminating coronavirus infection worldwide.
Action of the drug
Gintsburg said the Sputnik Light vaccine reduces but does not eliminate the possibility of a severe course of the disease.
"The full vaccine version, for one thing, gives a 100 percent guarantee against severe cases that could turn lethal. And "Light" (Sputnik Light vaccine - TASS) only reduces the likelihood of severe cases, but does not exclude them completely," he said.
Gintsburg said that the Sputnik Light vaccine will have three to four times shorter duration of action than the two-component Sputnik V vaccine.
"The protective duration of Sputnik Light will be at least three to four times shorter than that of the two-component vaccine," he said.
According to Ginzburg, Sputnik Light is likely to give protection against the coronavirus for four to five months.
Sputnik V was the world's first registered coronavirus vaccine, it happened on Aug. 11, 2020. On December 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed the creation of a "light version" of the drug.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: sputnikvaccine.com
Based on materials from TASS