STOCKHOLM, February 4. /TASS/. The Russian Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus may possibly be used in Sweden as well, the Aftonbladet newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing national vaccination coordinator Richard Bergstrom.
"We had a meeting on this subject and now we will consider it in greater detail," he said. The newspaper noted that the issue of purchasing the Russian vaccine by the EU countries has not been fully resolved yet, however, according to the new data, the preparation has the efficacy of 91%, including people of 60 years of age and older.
"We have very little information about the vaccine and the research results of the Russian vaccine should be reviewed more thoroughly. There [in Russia] efficacy is determined in a different way than in other studies, of other vaccines. This doesn’t mean that it’s wrong: they just measure it differently," the vaccination coordinator explained. The newspaper noted that if Sputnik V shows good results after research in the EU, then, possibly, Sweden will also purchase this Russian vaccine.
On February 2, The Lancet medical journal published results of Phase Three clinical trials of the Russian vaccine according to which it is one of the safest and the most effective worldwide. The preparation’s efficacy amounts to 91.6%, among inoculated volunteers over 60 - to 91.8%. Antibodies to the coronavirus after vaccination with Sputnik V were detected in 98% of inoculated volunteers.
On August 11, 2020, Russia became the first worldwide to register the vaccine against the coronavirus which was named Sputnik V. The preparation was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Healthcare Ministry. Sputnik V is a human adenovirus-based vector vaccine. The Sputnik V vaccine has already been registered in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, the UAE, Iran, the Republic of Guinea, Tunisia and Armenia.