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Coronavirus pandemic

Those vaccinated with Sputnik V can donate plasma for COVID-19 patients — expert

The level of protective antibodies allows the inoculated to be donors, according to the developer

© Kirill Kukhmar/TASS

MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. Those vaccinated with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine have enough antibodies to donate plasma for treatment of COVID-19 patients, head of the Gamaleya Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Alexander Ginzburg said on Friday in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

Read also

Russia about to take COVID-19 epidemic under control — health ministry expert

"The level of protective antibodies, and, as you know, we have an opportunity to measure the level of protective antibodies in our blood, allows us all to be donors. <…> That is, the antibody count is very high," he said.

The Lancet medical journal published an article reviewing results of the third stage of Sputnik V’s clinical trials in early February. The article notes the highly positive performance of the jab, putting it among the most safe and efficient in the world. The shot efficacy stands at 91.6%, while the result for those aged over 60 is even higher, 91.8%. Moreover, 98% of all volunteers who had the Russian vaccine had the antibody response.

The Sputnik V vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya Federal Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology. It was registered in Russia on August 11, 2020, becoming the first approved COVID-19 vaccine in the world. Since then, the vaccine has been registered in over 20 states. Mass vaccination in Russia was launched on January 18, 2021.

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