Russia says its COVID-19 vaccine proves 92% effective on early data
MOSCOW— Developers of Sputnik V, Russia’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine, announced Wednesday that early, interim data from a large trial suggests the shot appears to be 92 percent effective.
The statement, which did not include detailed information about the trial, comes just two days after a similar one frompfizer Inc., but is based on far fewer virus cases. Some experts suggest the data may have been rushed out in an effort to keep up with the worldwide race for a successful coronavirus vaccine.
Russia touted Sputnik V, a twoshot vaccine, as the world’s first to receive a government go-ahead after it was approved in early August without completing advanced testing.
Russian officials announced advanced studies among 40,000volunteers twoweeks after it received government approval. On Wednesday, Russia’s Direct Investment Fund that bankrolled the effort announced that an analysis of the early data showed that the vaccine “had an efficacy rate of 92 percent.“
The interim analysis looked at 20 confirmed coronavirus infections registered so far among over 16,000 volunteers who received both of the two shots of either the vaccine or the placebo, the fund’s statement said.
Some outside experts deemed the results of the interim analysis promising and consistent with what the studies of the Pfizer vaccine showed, but questioned the timing of its release.
“Whilst encouraging, I worry that these data have been rushed out on the back of the Pfizer/biontech announcement earlier in the week,” Eleanor Riley, professor of immunology and infectious disease at the University of Edinburgh, said in a statement.
Russia currently has the fifth largest coronavirus caseloadinthe world, with over 1.8 million confirmed cases and more than 31,000 deaths.