The Chairman of the Permanent Vaccination Committee (Stiko) at the Institute of Robert Koch in Germany, which makes recommendations on vaccination in the country, said that he believed “Sputnik V” was a good vaccine and stressed that Russian researchers have extensive experience in working with vaccines.
“This is a good vaccine that is probably approved at some point at the EU. Russian researchers have rich experience with vaccines”, – said Stiko Chairman Thomas Merz in an interview with Rheinischen Post.
Merz explained the advantages of the vaccine:
“Sputnik V” is cleverly built: as in the case of Astrazeneca, we are talking about a vector vaccine based on adenovirus. However, unlike Astrazeneca, it uses two different vector viruses for the first and second dose. This is very clever, the fact that it can prevent possible loss of efficiency due to the immune response to the vectors”.
He noted that in Germany there is a lack of vaccines.
“The reason for disappointment is clear: lack of vaccines. This is covered by all possible arguments. But the problem is not in order of prioritization and not in vaccination centers, it is simply there is a deficit. All current problems are related to this”, – Merz said.
The Permanent Vaccination Committee (Stiko) is recommendations on vaccination for Germany and is an independent expert association, whose activities are coordinated by the Institute of Robert Koch in the structure of the Ministry of Health.