Covid-19: Russian, Chinese vaccines come ‘under cloud’
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The Covid-19 vaccines developed by Russia and China have come a fresh ‘under a cloud’: while makers of Russian-made vaccines have been accused of ‘theft’ of AstraZeneca’s research, the WHO has recommended an extra dose of jabs for those who got shots of the Chinese-made vaccines, indirectly hinting that these are not as effective sometimes.
Russian spies stole the formula for the vaccine AstraZeneca developed with Oxford University researchers and used it to create its own Sputnik V jab, a British tabloid, The Sun, claimed, stating that security services have proof that one of those spies swiped the vital data from the drugs firm—including the blueprint for the Covid-19 vaccine—and used it to create Sputnik V.
Russia’s Sputnik V jab uses similar technology to the Oxford-designed vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) under a license and being used in the vaccination drive in India.
Reacting to the allegations, a report from Moscow said: “Rather than spreading fake stories, the UK media and government services should better protect the reputation of AstraZeneca, a safe and efficient vaccine that is constantly attacked by competitors in the media with facts taken out of context.”
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) had said it will restart approving Sputnik V following a series of problems with the dossier.
Mariangela Simao, the WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines, vaccines, and pharmaceuticals, said “we put the process on hold because of the lack of some legal procedures” for Sputnik V.
“In negotiations with the Russian government, this problem is about to be sorted out. As soon as the legal procedures are finished, we can restart the process,” she said.
The WHO authorization has been sought for the Sputnik V jab created by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute. This vaccine is already being used in 45 countries, including India, Algeria, Argentina, Iran, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.
In a separate report, the WHO, in a fresh vaccine advisory released on Monday, recommended an extra (third) dose of vaccines for people over 60 who have been fully immunized with China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines.
“Moderately and severely immunocompromised persons should be offered an additional dose… since these individuals are less likely to respond adequately to vaccination following a standard primary vaccine series and are at high risk of severe Covid-19 disease,” the UN health agency’s strategic advisory group of experts on immunization said, according to media reports.
It said that people over 60, who have been fully immunized with China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines, should be offered a third Covid-19 vaccine dose.
“For the Sinovac and Sinopharm inactivated vaccines, an additional (third) dose of the homologous vaccine should be offered to persons aged 60,” said the advisory group.
A different vaccine “may also be considered based on vaccine supply and access considerations.”
While implementing this recommendation, countries should initially aim at maximizing two-dose coverage in that population, and thereafter administer the third dose, starting in the oldest age groups.
The experts clarified they were not recommending an additional so-called booster dose for the population at large.
