After criticism last year for an early launch, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19 and 100% effective against severe and moderate illnesses, according to an interim analysis of the Phase 3 trial results. of the vaccine.
The preliminary results were published in The Lancet on Tuesday and are based on data collected from 19,866 participants, of whom about three-quarters (14,964) received two doses of the vaccine and a quarter (4,902) received a placebo.
Sixteen cases of symptomatic Covid-19 were confirmed in the vaccine group 21 days after the participants received the first dose of the vaccine. Sixty-two cases were found in the placebo group – equivalent to an efficacy of 91.6%.
The trial included 2,144 people over the age of 60 and a subanalysis conducted in this group revealed that the vaccine was well tolerated and had a similar effectiveness of 91.8%.
The team also looked at the effectiveness of the vaccine against severe and moderate Covid-19 disease and 21 days after the first dose, no serious or moderate cases were reported in the vaccinated group, while 20 were reported in the placebo group.
Serious adverse events were also rare and none were considered to be associated with vaccination. Most of the reported side effects were mild, such as pain at the injection site, flu-like symptoms and low energy levels, according to the study.
The analysis includes only symptomatic cases of Covid-19, however, the authors note that more research is needed to understand the effectiveness of the vaccine against asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 and how long the protection can last.
Most of the study participants were also white, so more research is needed to confirm the results in other ethical groups. The test is also underway and aims to include a total of 40,000 participants.
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