Sputnik V 83% effective against Delta variant: Russian health minister

Russia's Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V is around 83% effective against the Delta variant of coronavirus, lower than previously thought, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Wednesday.

He added that the vaccine’s efficacy against a severe course of the novel coronavirus infection surpasses 95%, TASS news agency reported.

"Today the Sputnik V vaccine demonstrates the most effective results on prevention, on fighting the Delta strain. The latest results indicate that the efficacy is about 83%, this is already the Russian data, provided to us courtesy of our clinical colleagues," he said.

Alexander Gintsburg, Director of the Gamaleya Institute which developed the jab, said that Sputnik V was safe and effective against all known new strains of the virus.

"As evidence from the circulation among the public shows, the vaccine is completely safe and highly effective. It is effective not only immediately against those strains it was developed for but also against the numerous strains that have emerged recently and are constantly attacking us," he said.

Gintsburg expressed hope that the vaccine will continue to remain effective in the future and will protect both Russian nationals and the population of those countries where inoculation of this jab is underway.

Authorities blamed the spike in Covid cases in June and July on the highly contagious Delta variant and the population's reluctance to get vaccinated despite the wide availability of vaccine shots.

In June, the vaccine's developers said Sputnik V was around 90% effective against the Delta variant

Russia, which has a population of around 144 million, has approved four domestically produced vaccines. The country has recorded around 6.5 million infections since the beginning of the pandemic.

In August 2020, Russia became the first country in the world to register a vaccine against the coronavirus. Dubbed Sputnik V, the vaccine has been approved for emergency use in 69 countries so far.

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