MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Subsequent mutations of COVID-19 coronavirus can be more dangerous, chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said in a documentary showed on the Rossiya-24 TV Channel.
"You know, many let loose that the first variant of the Omicron [strain] was rather weak. The current BA.5 variant is certainly more dangerous, it is actually in between the Delta and the first Omicron. Therefore, we certainly hope that subsequent mutations will result in virus weakening. However, the virus spread case showed that it might not be so. That is why we must be ready to new, more dangerous mutations," Dmitriev said.
The Gamaleya Center is ready to create and RDIF is ready to produce and distribute new versions of the Sputnik vaccine within two-three months after appearance of new mutations, he added.
In August 2020, Russia became the world’s first country that registered the coronavirus vaccine named Sputnik V. The vaccine is registered in more than 70 countries of the world to date.