MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. A "light" vaccine against the coronavirus, that is, inoculation with only one of the two vaccine components, will protect against the infection for three or four months, Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Healthcare Ministry Alexander Gintsburg told TASS.
"The immunity is expected to be formed in three weeks," he said. "It won’t last long, I think it will regretfully last three or, at best, four months."
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists after his annual press conference that scientists can develop a "light" version of the vaccine against the novel coronavirus with a shorter duration of action, which, however, will allow to inoculate a significantly larger number of people.
According to Gintsburg, the efficacy of the vaccine will be about 85%, maybe even less for elderly people.
"However, it will fulfill its main function, which is to reduce the number of severe cases and hospitalizations, regardless of a patient’s age," he said.
"It will be a one-component vaccine and it will be used primarily in countries with high mortality, where it is necessary to quickly reduce it with the help of a vaccine,but at the cost of a shorter effect. So, it will be some kind of a compromise," the Russian scientist continued.
Gintsburg added that the vaccine can be delivered to other countries or produced on site under the Russian technology.
On August 11, Russia became the first country to register the vaccine against the coronavirus, named Sputnik V. The preparation was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center. Post-registration trials began in Moscow on September 7, the first vaccine was administered to volunteers on September 9. In all, 40,000 people participate in the trials, with 10,000 of them receiving a placebo instead of the vaccine.