In news: Russia has released a new single-dose vaccine named Sputnik Light.
About the vaccine-
- It is developed by the Russian Ministry of Health, the Gamaleya National Research Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
- It has also been registered and given authorisation for use.
- Sputnik V is a two-dose vaccine made from recombinant adenovirus 26 (Ad26) and adenovirus 5 (Ad5) (Common cold-causing viruses).
- The first dose (Ad26) is the prime vaccine, which is the first part of the Sputnik V vaccine and the second (Ad5) is the booster shot.
- It has also proved to be effective against “all-new strains of coronavirus”.
- After the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, this is only the second vaccine that has shown relatively high efficacy (79.4 percent) against the virus with just a single dose.
- The vaccine is easy to store at temperatures ranging from two to eight degrees Celsius.
- The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the Sputnik V in April after Dr Reddy’s Laboratories conducted a successful bridge trial.
RDIF has tied up five Indian vaccine makers to produce over 850 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, other 4 drugmakers include Gland Pharma, Hetero Pharma, Stellis Bio and Virchow Biotech.
Mechanism-
- A recombinant vaccine uses specific parts of the virus.
- Since they are made using only pieces of the virus, they result in an extremely strong immune response that targets key parts of the virus.
- They can be administered to everyone and even people with weak immune systems and long-term health problems.
However, limitation is it may need booster shots to continue to provide protection against diseases
More information- Sputnik V Vaccine – JournalsOfIndia
Source: The Hindu
