All news

Sputnik V effective against British coronavirus strain, Russian health minister says

The ministry's specialists have researched the neutralizing activity of the blood serum of volunteers vaccinated with Sputnik V against the British strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V has proven to be effective against the British strain of the coronavirus, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told reporters on Friday.

"Our specialists have researched the neutralizing activity of the blood serum of volunteers vaccinated with Sputnik V against the British strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The research verifies that the level of neutralizing antibodies to the British strain does not differ from the level of neutralizing antibodies to the original strain of SARS-CoV-2. Thus, the Sputnik V vaccine protects against the mutated British strain of the coronavirus no less effectively than against the regular strain," he said.

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. Sputnik V is a vector vaccine based on the human adenovirus.