THE minister of Health and Social Services, Kalumbi Shangula, says the Sputnik vaccine has been hailed by medical journals as new hope against Covid-19, as it is 91,6% effective against the virus.
This comes after the vaccine was ridiculed when Russian president Vladimir Putin announced that his country had cleared the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine for use.
“Sputnik V vaccine is one of the best,” the minister said.
In the last two weeks, medical journals have based their analysis of the vaccine’s potential on the interim report of the phase 3 data that includes results from more than 20 000 participants.
Shangula said the number of participants is big enough to ensure a high power and high-confidence intervention.
During the last two national Covid-19 briefings, Shangula said the government had had discussions with manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines in China, Russia, India and the United States to acquire additional vaccines to cover 40% of the population.
Namibia is expecting the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine between now and the end of this month to cater for 20% of the population, specifically healthcare workers and those considered vulnerable to the virus.
The country needs to vaccinate 60% to 80% of the population to reach herd immunity, meaning most citizens would be immune to the virus.
Windhoek-based infectious diseases specialist Dr Gordon Cupido said the Sputnik, and to a lesser extent Sinovac vaccines, may be useful.
Beijing-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac is behind the CoronaVac, an inactivated vaccine.
It works by using killed viral particles to expose the body’s immune system to the virus without risking a serious disease response.
Cupido did, however, raise concerns that the Sputnik vaccine may present challenges regarding transportation and storage as well as production capacity.
THE LANCET
The Russian vaccine, seems to be the new defence against Covid-19 with 91,6% effectiveness and can provide immunity after just a single dose, said the Lancet medical journal.
The Sputnik vaccine was the first to be registered and it has shown 100% protection against severe Covid-19 cases.
“That protection applied to all age groups, including those older than 60 years, and the anecdotal case histories of those vaccinated but infected suggest that the severity of the disease decreases as immunity develops,” the article said.
This is based on the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases from 21 days after the first dose of vaccine which showed the lessening of the diseases severity.
The vaccine is administered in two jabs 21 days apart like the Pfizer vaccine. The vials need to be stored in temperatures of 2 to 8°C.
“The trial results show a consistent strong protective effect across all participant age groups,” the journal states.
The Lancet says the earlier phase data on the Sputnik, published in September last year, showed promising safety results and gave an indication that the immunity response was consistent with protection.
However, during the trials, there were three fatalities in the sample group. The individuals had extensive comorbidities and their deaths were deemed unrelated to the vaccine.
No other serious adverse effects related to the vaccine were recorded.
The vaccine requires large doses, therefore it makes it ideal for big demands on the manufacturing and quantitation required for rollout on a global scale.