MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. The Sputnik V Light anti-coronavirus vaccine reduces the likelihood of severe forms of the disease but doesn’t exclude them completely, Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Health Ministry, the vaccine developer, said on Friday.

"The authentic version of the vaccine, first of all, gives one hundred percent guarantee against severe forms that may develop into lethal ones. The Light version only reduces the likelihood of severe cases but does not exclude them completely," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the so-called light variant of the vaccine. He said its effective duration would not be so long as that of the authentic vaccine. However, in his words, it will allow inoculating much more people.

According to Gintsburg, immunity after the use of Sputnik V Light is formed within three weeks to stay in place for three to four months. The key goal of its use is to bring down coronavirus mortality in those countries where it is too high. In Russia, however, it is planned to use both components of the vaccine.

In January, Russia’s Health Ministry issued a permit for clinical tests of the Sputnik Light vaccine.

To date, 4,042,837 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 3,559,142 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 79,194 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.