MOSCOW, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Developers of the Sputnik V
COVID-19 vaccine said on Thursday that AstraZeneca
should try combining its experimental shot with the Russian one
to boost efficacy.
Russia said its Sputnik V vaccine is 92% effective at
protecting people from COVID-19, according to interim trial
results, while AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine was 70%
effective in pivotal trials and could be up to 90% effective.
"If they go for a new clinical trial, we suggest trying a
regimen of combining the AZ shot with the #SputnikV human
adenoviral vector shot to boost efficacy," the developers of the
Russian vaccine said on their Twitter account.
"Combining vaccines may prove important for revaccinations."
AstraZeneca has said it will have as many as 200 million
doses of its vaccine by the end of 2020.
The British developed vaccine is viewed as offering one of
the best hopes for many developing countries because of its
cheaper price and ability to be transported at normal fridge
temperatures.
With 2,187,990 infections, Russia has the fourth-largest
number of COVID-19 cases in the world behind the United States,
India and Brazil.
AstraZeneca is likely to run an additional global trial to
assess the efficacy of its vaccine, its chief executive Pascal
Soriot was quoted as saying by Bloomberg News, after questions
were raised over the results from its late-stage study.
The British government's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick
Vallance said the main point about the AstraZeneca vaccine was
that it worked, when asked about these doubts.
"The headline result is the vaccine works and that's very
exciting," Vallance said during a news briefing with British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh;
Editing by Alexander Smith)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
