UPDATE - Results Of Argentina's Trials Of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine Are Revealed

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th March, 2021) Trials of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in Argentina showed that the vaccine induces a humoral response against the S-protein in 100 percent of the volunteers tested 21 days after receiving the second injection, according to the official Twitter account of the Russian vaccine.

According to the statement from the health ministry of the country's province of Buenos Aires, reposted by the vaccine's Twitter account, a longitudinal study of 242 vaccinated individuals has been conducted to collect data on the immune response to the vaccine among the local population. All participants were provincial medical staff aged 18 to 69 years. The participants were divided into two groups depending on them having IgG antibodies, indicating past infection.

"There are the results of the work of @GamarnikLab [Argentina's Leloir Institute] and colleagues at the PBA [Buenos Aires Province]: [it] shows that the #SputnikV vaccine induces a humoral response against the Spike protein in 100% of the volunteers tested 21 after the second dose ... The truth is that the reduction is very categorical. Health personnel varied between 3% and 4% of the total number of infected in CABA [Autonomous City of Buenos Aires] and at present that number is below 1%," the statement read.

The study also showed that those who were previously exposed to the disease and received a single vaccine dose had on average an eight times better immune response than those without prior exposure and who received two doses of Sputnik V.

"The data obtained in the current study suggest [the need] to revise the vaccination strategy for those individuals who have already been exposed to SARS-CoV-2. The use of a single vaccine dose of the Sputnik V vaccine in that group would not have an effect on the humoral response developed in those individuals, reducing the inconvenience of having to receive an additional dose for that group and freeing vaccine doses for other priority uses," the statement concludes.

Argentina started vaccinating its population using Sputnik V shots in December. Earlier in March, Cecilia Nicolini, an assistant to Argentina's president, told Sputnik the vaccination was showing "encouraging results."