NOVO-OGARYOVO, September 14. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has reported that his antibody titers against coronavirus remain high and expressed hope that the Sputnik V vaccine will demonstrate its high efficacy in "real life."

"My titers, according to general data, are rather high, but we’ll see how this works in practice in real life," he said during a meeting with the members of the government and the leadership of the United Russia party.

Earlier, the president said that he had to self-isolate due to contacts with people infected with the coronavirus in his inner circle.

As the Kremlin press service noted, Putin will participate in the events along the lines of the SCO, and the CSTO planned for this week in Dushanbe in a video conference format and not face-to-face. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured journalists that the president himself was in good health.

 

On timeliness of revaccination

 

Putin noted that several people had contracted coronavirus in his inner circle one of whom "got revaccinated rather late."

"In my innermost circle several people got sick and one of these staffers is a person who works in direct proximity with me. He was vaccinated," the president said, noting that this person’s antibody titer had decreased.

"By all appearances, he got revaccinated rather late," Putin added.

According to the president, this staffer got sick three days after receiving a revaccination shot. "The day before, I was interacting with him the whole day, very closely, for the entire day," the head of state said.

 

A natural experiment

 

Putin said that the situation around his self-isolation is a "natural experiment."

"We’ll see how Sputnik V really works in practice," the president said. He expressed hope that "everything will be the way it is supposed to be and Sputnik V will show its high parameters of protection against COVID-19 in real life."

Putin was immunized against the coronavirus infection in spring. Initially, he didn’t divulge which vaccine he used but at the end of June said that it was Sputnik. Explaining his choice, the president noted that he selected this jab because he "needed to be protected for as long as possible."

Additionally, the head of state noted that he was not disclosing which shot he was inoculated with in order not to create a competitive advantage for one vaccine over another.