MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. The Sputnik V vaccine does not need to be updated currently, and it is still highly effective at combating the spread of COVID-19, Vladimir Gushchin, an expert with the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, said on Wednesday on Russia’s Channel One.

"The platform currently owned by the Gamaleya Center <…> can create adapted variants of the vaccine against new coronavirus strains if there is reliable information and data, however, we do not see such a need so far," he said.

The researcher pointed out that the existing Sputnik V vaccine has all the necessary protection levels: it effectively protects against coronavirus-related deaths and severe symptoms of the disease, "clinical symptoms of the disease" and lowers the viral load on the infected person’s body.

On June 27, head of the Gamaleya Research Center Alexander Ginzburg stated that the center can change the coronavirus vaccine within a week if there is a registered vector technology, which may be needed if the virus mutates drastically.