Russia claimed on Wednesday April 14 that its main vaccine against Covid-19, Sputnik V, did not cause a rare type of blood clots reported after using two other vaccines using the same technology.
Read also: Sputnik V tends relations between Moscow and the EU
"
A complete analysis of the adverse effects during clinical trials and during mass vaccination with Sputnik V showed that there were no cases of cerebral venous thrombosis
", indicated the Gamaleïa research institute. , who developed this vaccine.
The AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are currently suspected of having caused dozens of cases of these very rare blood clots, some of them fatal, prompting authorities in several countries to restrict their use.
Both use the same technology as Sputnik V: adenoviruses.
However, the Gamaleïa Institute underlined that "
all vaccines based on adenovirus vectors are different and cannot be directly compared
".
According to this source, Sputnik V has "
significant differences in its structure and production technology
" compared to the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
He specifies that the safety of Sputnik V is reinforced by “
a four-stage purification technology
” that the Institute says it is ready to share with other producers to “
minimize the risk of side effects
”.
Approved in 60 countries
The announcement comes as the American Johnson & Johnson, which is due to deliver 55 million doses to the EU in the second quarter, announced Tuesday "
delay the deployment
" of its single-dose vaccine in Europe after the report in the United States of clots blood in vaccinated people.
The use of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been drastically restricted in most countries of the European Union due to possible cases of thrombosis, and Denmark said Wednesday to give it up permanently.
Last August, Moscow's announcement of Sputnik V was initially criticized in the West as premature.
But the reliability of the product was established in the months that followed and it is currently approved in sixty countries.
For want of being able to produce enough and wishing to dedicate its production as a priority to the Russian population, Moscow has however delivered so far only reduced quantities abroad.