MOSCOW, Nov 26: Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken the nasal vaccine
for covid developed in the country, three days after getting a booster vaccination
with Sputnik Light. He said he felt the immunity from the first dose of Sputnik
V taken early this year was waning. "My titers of antibodies have dropped."
Russia plans to supply the nasal covid vaccine to other countries next year.
It is simple, no-cost, no personnel required to administer, no transportation
hassles, available over the counter, and simply self-administering like any
other spray. But pharmas will reap no profits! However, its effect, the WHO
says, is limited to local (nasal mucosa) immunisation although it could by and
large prevent the virus from navigating to the lungs.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, the President was taking
part in the nasal vaccine trials. "The head of state had neither side effects
nor fever," Peskov added, but did not say when exactly did he take the trial
dose. Probably it was on Tuesday. Putin had told a Government meeting previously
that he had also tested a nasal vaccine in powder form earlier. This time the
nasal vaccine was a liquid spray.
Pre-clinical trials showed that the vaccine is safe and effective, Russian
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.
"Pre-clinical trials have already been conducted, they showed that the vaccine
is safe and effective, a clinical trials program has been prepared," Mishustin
said. According to him, "permission has been given to launch phase one clinical
trials on adult volunteers." "It needs to be done in order to once again assess
the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine and determine the right dosage,"
the Prime Minister specified.
The GamCovidVac nasal spray vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya Research
Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said a new Sputnik M vaccine for use
for children aged 12-17 is also in the pipeline.
Meanwhile, Russia is paying the price for rampant vaccine hesitancy. There
has been a sudden, alarming surge in covid cases in the country like what Europe
is facing in. Only 42% of the country's population of 146 million people have
been fully vaccinated.
There were 33,558 new infections and 1,240 deaths reported on Wednesday. In
total, there were 9.4 million confirmed infections and more than 267,000 covid
deaths so far. But, according to Russia's statistical service, Rosstat, 462,000
people died between April 2020 and September of this year.