Sputnik V vaccine 92% effective on COVID-19: Russia institute
Hyderabad:: Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19, being developed by Russia's Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, has demonstrated an efficacy rate of 92 percent.
The confirmation is based on the first interim data from the largest randomized, placebo-controlled Phase-III clinical trials in Russia involving 40,000 volunteers, a press release from Gamaleya, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said.
The trials evaluated the efficacy among over 16,000 volunteers who received the vaccine or placebo 21 days after the first injection.
As a result of a statistical analysis of 20 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the case split between vaccinated individuals and those who received the placebo indicating that the Sputnik V vaccine had an efficacy rate of 92 percent after the second dose, the release said.
In September 2020, Dr. Reddys and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russias sovereign wealth fund, entered into a partnership to conduct clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine and its distribution in India.
As part of the partnership, RDIF shall supply 100 million doses of the vaccine to Dr.Reddys upon regulatory approval in India.
On August 11, 2020, the Sputnik V vaccine was registered by the Ministry of Health of Russia and became the world's first registered vaccine against COVID-19 based on the human adenoviral vectors platform.
Separately, in September the vaccine was first administered to a group of volunteers from the 'red zones' of Russian hospitals.
The observation of additional 10,000 vaccinated volunteers representing medics and other high-risk groups under the civil use of the vaccine out of clinical trials also confirmed the vaccine's efficacy rate of over 90 percent, the release added.
As of November 11, as part of the clinical trials in Russias 29 medical centers, more than 20,000 volunteers were vaccinated with the first dose and over 16,000 volunteers with the first and the second dose of the vaccine.
In addition, as on the date, no unexpected adverse events were identified as part of the research.
Some of those vaccinated had short-term minor adverse effects such as pain at the injection site, flu-like syndrome, including fever, weakness, fatigue, and headache, according to the release.
Alexander Gintsburg, director of Gamaleya Centre, said the publication of the interim results of the post-registration clinical trials that convincingly demonstrate Sputnik V vaccines efficacy gives way to mass vaccination in Russia against COVID-19 in the coming weeks."
Thanks to the production scale-up at new manufacturing sites, the Sputnik V vaccine would soon be available for a wider population, he said.
"This will break the current trend and lead to an eventual decrease in COVID-19 infection rates, first in Russia, then globally," he said.
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE on Monday said their vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.
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SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
Bengaluru (PTI): The South Western Railway on Saturday announced a series of special trains, in coordination with Central, South Eastern and Southern Railways, to clear stranded passengers following large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations across the country.
The special services will operate between December 6 and 10 on high-demand routes, including Bengaluru–Chennai, Bengaluru–Pune, Yesvantpur–Hazrat Nizamuddin, Shalimar–Yelahanka and Ernakulam–Yelahanka, officials said.
According to an official statement, SWR will run Train No. 06255/06256 between Chennai Egmore and KSR Bengaluru, 06257/06258 between Bengaluru and MGR Chennai Central, 06259/06260 between Yesvantpur and Hazrat Nizamuddin, and 06263/06264 between Bengaluru and Pune.
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Central Railway will operate Train No. 01413/01414 between Pune and Bengaluru, while South Eastern Railway will run Train No. 08073/08074 between Shalimar and Yelahanka. Southern Railway will operate Train No. 06147/06148 between Ernakulam and Yelahanka, the statement said.
Railways has advised passengers to check updated timings on its official channels and arrive early at stations.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggage has been misplaced.
