Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Epidemiology, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Gintsburg said that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine has shown high efficiency against the new strain of coronavirus, Omicron.
“Our laboratory data confirm the very good effectiveness of Sputnik V against the Omicron strain. In addition, in any case, judging by the statements of some of the chief doctors that I heard, there are no hospitalizations with the Sputnik vaccine, respectively, deaths and severe cases, too”, Gintsburg said in an interview with Interfax.
However, according to the scientist, the omicron strain will not help the world get out of the pandemic for the reason that “the more it multiplies and the more often it is transmitted, the more likely new strains may arise.” Gunzburg stressed that in order to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, at least 75-80% of the population must be vaccinated.
At present, the Russian drug Sputnik V, developed by scientists from the Gamaleya Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, has been approved in 71 countries with a total population of about four billion people, which is over 50% of the world’s population. The vaccine is based on the adenovirus platform, which provides high efficiency and safety.