Russia authorizes use of ‘Sputnik Light,’ a one-shot Covid vaccine it says is 79% effective

Russia on Thursday authorized the use of a one-shot coronavirus vaccine called “Sputnik Light,” according to the country’s sovereign wealth fund, a move designed to boost vaccine supplies in countries with surging infection rates. The Russian Direct Investment Fund said Sputnik Light, a slimmed-down vaccine developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Research Institute, has an efficacy rate of 79.4% and would cost less than $10 a dose.

RDIF said the shot, the first component of the country’s flagship two-dose Sputnik V vaccine, is compatible with standard vaccine storage and logistics requirements. It claims one of the potential uses of the single-shot vaccine is for the immunization of a larger number of people in a shorter time frame, noting it can be shipped at speed to a country in the midst of an acute outbreak.

RDIF said late-stage Phase III trials involving 7,000 people were underway in Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Ghana, among other countries. Interim results were expected later this month. Phase I and Phase II results of the single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine found the shot demonstrated safety for all subjects and no serious adverse events were registered, it said.

Russia authorizes use of ‘Sputnik Light,’ a one-shot Covid vaccine it says is 79% effective, CNBC, May 7