ROME, January 21. /TASS/. The antibodies of over 70% of those inoculated with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine retain their neutralizing activity against the Omicron strain and in the majority of cases it is retained even 3-6 months following vaccination, a research and technical group of Italy’s Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases that conducted joint research with Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology reported on Thursday.

"The results of the experiments conducted in cooperation between the Spallanzani Institute and the Gamaleya Center demonstrated that [the antibodies] of over 70% of people vaccinated with Sputnik V retain the neutralizing activity against the Omicron strain and this activity is retained in the majority of cases even 3-6 months after inoculation," as the ANSA news agency quoted the institute’s statement. The specialists also noted that the obtained results would help "to determine new vaccination strategies" in the future as new COVID-19 strains emerge.

Earlier, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) reported that Sputnik V’s virus-neutralizing activity against the Omicron strain was twice as high as that of Pfizer’s jab. The study was conducted in equal laboratory conditions at the Spallanzani Institute in Italy based on comparable blood serum samples from individuals vaccinated with Sputnik V and Pfizer’s vaccine with similar antibody levels and virus-neutralizing activity against the initial strain recorded in Wuhan. The study also demonstrated that Sputnik V neutralized the Omicron strain by forming a strong immune response thanks to the high level of antibodies.

The RDIF stressed that these data confirm the results of the Gamaleya Center’s study published on the MedRxiv web portal which show Sputnik V's high virus-neutralizing activity against the Omicron strain which is further bolstered by the Sputnik Light booster shot.

Sputnik V has been approved for use in 71 countries with the total population surpassing 4 bln people while Sputnik Light has been certified in more than 30 countries.