Russia says its coronavirus vaccine is 92% effective

Russia says its coronavirus vaccine is 92% effective

The results are based on data from the first 16,000 trial participants to receive both shots of the two-dose vaccine

Russia has said its COVID-19 vaccine 'Sputnik V' is 92% effective at protecting people from the virus, based on interim results from late-stage human trials. This comes after Pfizer and BioNTech's announcement that their shot was also more than 90% effective.

The initial results are only the second to be published from a late-stage human trial in the global effort to produce vaccines that could halt a pandemic that has killed more than 1.2 million people and ravaged the world economy.

The results are based on data from the first 16,000 trial participants to receive both shots of the two-dose vaccine, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which has been backing its development and marketing it globally, said.

Russia says its coronavirus vaccine is 92% effective
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The Russian results are another boost to other COVID-19 vaccines currently in development and are a proof of concept that the disease can be halted with vaccination.

Experts said knowledge about the trial's design and protocol was sparse, making it difficult to interpret the figures released on Wednesday.

Scientists have raised concerns about the speed at which Moscow has worked, giving regulatory go ahead for the shot and launching a mass vaccination programme before full trials to test its safety and efficacy had been completed.

Russia registered its COVID-19 vaccine for public use in August, the first country to do so, though the approval came before the start of the large-scale trial in September.

The so-called Phase III trial of the shot developed by the Gamaleya Institute is taking place in 29 clinics across Moscow and will involve 40,000 volunteers in total, with a quarter receiving a placebo shot.

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