The Moscow-based Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the creator of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, has not yet obtained samples of the coronavirus strains originating in South Africa, lead researcher Fyodor Lisitsyn said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2021) The Moscow-based Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the creator of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, has not yet obtained samples of the coronavirus strains originating in South Africa, lead researcher Fyodor Lisitsyn said on Friday.
"With regard to the strains, the Gamaleya Center monitors the situation. We have not yet received any samples of the new South African variants, there are two of them now," Lisitsyn told the Rossiya 24 television channel.
According to the scientist, weather conditions in Russia are not currently conducive to the spread of the coronavirus, which requires above zero temperatures and from 60-80 percent of air humidity. This is more typical of the upcoming spring.
"A certain surge in coronavirus infections is inevitable when conditions favorable for it come along," Lisitsyn added.
The mutated strain was first detected in South Africa last October and has become the dominant one locally by now. It is believed to be more contagious than the original coronavirus.
