Could the Russian Sputnik V vaccine soon arrive in France? In any case, this is what the Russian Sovereign Fund (RDIF) suggested on Monday March 15. He announced that vaccine production agreements have been made "with companies from Italy, Spain, France and Germany".
Russian vaccine: available in Europe from June?
Without revealing the names of these companies, Kirill Dmitriev, head of RDIF, explained that talks were underway "to increase production in the EU. This will make it possible to start supplying the single European market with Sputnik V upon authorization by the European Medicines Agency".
On January 20, Russia sent an application for approval of Sputnik V to the European Medicines Authority (EMA), but the process is long. Kirill Dmitriev clarified that Russia was ready to "start supplying EU countries that will authorize Sputnik V independently" from EMA, as was the case in Hungary. The country began administering Russian vaccine on February 12.
In total, Russian authorities have said they are ready to provide vaccines to 50 million Europeans from June.
Sputnik V: Russian vaccine is 91.6% effective, according to The Lancet
But what do we really know about the Russian vaccine? It is a "viral vector" vaccine just like that of AstraZeneca, which therefore uses attenuated, non-pathogenic virus to trigger an immune response.
With an arrival deemed early, Sputnik V was greeted with suspicion. But results published in the medical journal The Lancet Tuesday, February 2 and validated by independent experts had confirmed its effectiveness.
This publication revealed that the vaccine is 91.6% effective. "The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticized for its haste, the fact that it has skipped steps and a lack of transparency. But the results reported here are clear and the scientific principle of this vaccination is demonstrated", said Professors Ian Jones and Polly Roy in a commentary attached to the study.
The study, however, was only conducted on patients with symptoms of Covid-19. "More research is needed to determine the effectiveness of the vaccine on cases asymptomatic and on the transmission ", therefore specified the document.
Read also :
⋙ AstraZeneca vaccine suspended in France: the European Medicines Agency will rule on Thursday
⋙ Covid-19: pharmacy vaccination starts today, who can get vaccinated?
⋙ Covid-19: who can get vaccinated by their general practitioner and how does it work?