The Thai Prime Minister has announced that the Russian government has agreed to a government-to-government deal to sell the Sputnik V (Vee) vaccine to Thailand. Let’s learn more about the Russian national vaccine in today’s special report.
Sputnik V was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. Registered in August of last year by the Russian Ministry of Health as Gam-COVID-Vac. Sputnik V is an adenovirus viral vector vaccine. The “V” in the name is the letter V, and not the Roman numeral for five as some outlets initially reported.
Gam-COVID-Vac was initially approved for distribution in Russia on the preliminary results of Phase 1 and 2 studies eventually published in September of last year.
Gam-COVID-Vac is a viral two-vector vaccine based on two human adenoviruses – a common cold virus – containing the gene that encodes the full-length spike protein (S) of COVID-19 to stimulate an immune response.
The recombinant adenovirus types 26 and 5 are both used as vectors in the vaccine. They were biotechnology-derived and contain the coronavirus protein cDNA. Both of them are administered into the deltoid muscle: the Ad26-based vaccine is used on the first day and the Ad5 vaccine is used on the 21st day to boost the immune response.
Emergency mass-distribution of the vaccine began in December 2020 in multiple countries including Russia, Argentina, Belarus, Hungary, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates. By February 2021 over a billion doses of the vaccine had been ordered for immediate distribution globally.
Meanwhile, an interim analysis from the trial was published in The Lancet earlier this year, indicating 91.6% efficacy without unusual side effects.
According to the social media channel of Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to the deal, saying the move will further strengthen ties between Thailand and Russia.
General Prayut said he has already assigned the Ministry of Public Health to proceed with negotiations with the vaccine’s manufacturer. (NNT)
