Where to travel if you have Sputnik V?
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(CNN Spanish) -
Although it still does not have a green light from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Sputnik Light vaccine is beginning to make its way in Latin America.
This week, the single-dose covid-19 vaccine created by the Gamaleya Institute began to be applied to young people between the ages of 18 and 29 in Nicaragua, one of the two countries in the region that has already authorized its use.
This is what you should know about the drug.
How does the Sputnik Light work?
What is the difference with Sputnik V?
Sputnik Light is the name with which Russia baptized the first component of its two-dose vaccine Sputnik V. Millions of people around the world have received it as part of the Sputnik V vaccination scheme, but now the country is betting on its use as a single dose vaccine.
Sputnik Light uses, as well as the second dose of Sputnik V, a type of human cold virus as a vector, explains Dr. Huerta, specialist in Public Health, in this episode of the podcast "Coronavirus: reality vs. fiction."
The Sputnik Light virus is Ad26, different from the second component of Sputnik V, which is the Ad5 virus.
"This technology of using viruses as vectors or Trojan horses to introduce genetic segments of the new coronavirus is the same that is used, among many others, by the companies Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and CanSino of China," explains Huerta.
Russia at worst of pandemic despite Sputnik V 0:57
What is its effectiveness?
According to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDFI), Sputnik Light demonstrated 79.4% efficacy on data analyzed 28 days after its application during the vaccination program in Russia between December and April.
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In addition, according to the same source, it is 70% effective against the delta variant three months after injection, and 75% effective in those under 65 years of age.
According to Reuters, the RDFI stated that this was the percentage of effectiveness based on information that the Gamaleya Institute provided to the medical website medRxiv before a peer review.
The data, according to the agency, are based on 28,000 participants who received the Suptnik Light and a control group of 5.6 million unvaccinated people in Russia.
Who approved and who will make the Sputnik Light?
More than 15 countries approved the Sputnik Light, according to the RDFI.
Among these, in addition to Nicaragua, from the region is Venezuela, according to the covid-19 vaccine tracking website of McGill University.
The vaccine will be produced in more than 10 countries, under the RDFI, which include Argentina and Mexico, as well as China and India, where the Serum Institute will participate.
The WHO still does not authorize the Sputnik V vaccine, why?
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At the end of May, the Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, announced that the state company Birmex would package Sputnik V and that it would work with the RDFI so that Sputnik Light could be manufactured in the Latin American country.
Can it be mixed with other vaccines?
In Argentina, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries, RDFI joint studies with other vaccine manufacturers are underway to study the combination of Sputnik Light with other injections, according to RDFI.
The Russian agency highlights the Argentine trial where, they say, they are studying the safety and immune response by combining Sputnik Light with the AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Cansino and Moderna vaccines, both in Buenos Aires and in the provinces of Córdoba, San Luis and La Rioja.
"The initial results of the study confirm a high safety profile of the combinations, with no serious adverse events related to vaccination," he says.
About 1,100 volunteers participated in the study, and 12 different combinations were tested.
They further claim that the preliminary results of a study they did in Azerbaijan show that mixing the first component of Sputnik V and that of AstraZenca generates antibodies and is safe.
Does it serve as a booster shot?
According to the Russian Fund for Direct Investment, when used as a booster for other vaccines, it is more than 94% effective against hospitalization and more than 83% against infections.
Argentina will combine Sputnik V with Moderna and AstraZeneca 3:47
Why has the WHO not yet authorized it?
When the Russian Fund for Direct Investment applied to the WHO for authorization of the Sputnik V vaccine, it applied for separate authorizations for the two components that sign Sputnik V, Kirill Dmitriev, the agency's director, told Reuters.
For this reason, when that vaccine receives the go-ahead, so will Sputnik Light automatically, according to Dmitriev.
The process to authorize Sputnik V was stopped until October 20, Dr. Mariângela Simão, deputy director general for Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Pharmaceutical Products of the agency, recently explained at a press conference.
According to Simão, the manufacturer of Sputnik V had so far not delivered all the documents necessary for the evaluation of the application and the waiting time "depends on how quickly the manufacturers send the data."
In September, Dr. Jaime Barbosa, deputy director of PAHO, had reported that the process to authorize the drug had been suspended since June because "conditions were found in a Sputnik production plant in Russia that are not the conditions that are required to have the good manufacturing practices". At the time, he said they were waiting for manufacturers to implement the necessary measures to carry out another inspection and certify the conditions.
So far, the WHO has authorized the emergency use of the vaccines from Pfizer / BioNTech, Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), Moderna, AstraZeneca / Oxford, Sinopharm and Sinovac-CoronaVac, in addition to those manufactured under license from AstraZeneca by South Korean SK Bioscience and the Serum Institute (Covisheld).
The first three are also endorsed by the United States health authorities, while the two manufactured in China are also applied in multiple Latin American countries.
In addition to Sputnik V, they do not have the approval of the WHO, among others, Novavax (US) and the Cuban Adala and Soberana.
With information from Alejandra Ramos.