Sputnik Vaccine for Teenagers to Be Available on International Markets, RDIF CEO Says

Earlier on Wednesday, it was revealed that the Russian Health Ministry will register a COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 17.

The Russian-made Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 17 will be available on the international market, said the CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said earlier that the country's Health Ministry is expected to register the GAM-COVID-VAK-M [Sputnik M] vaccine – developed by the Gamaleya Centre – for adolescents aged 12 to 17 years on Wednesday.

Later in the day, the Gamaleya Centre revealed that the vaccine has received the registration certificate.

The vaccination of adolescents is expected to be voluntary and will be carried out with the permission of the children's parents or legal representatives.

Director of the Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology Alexander Gintsburg also revealed that after the approval of the coronavirus vaccine for adolescents, a package of documents will be submitted for the study of the vaccine among children from six to 11 years old.

Aside from the vaccine for children, a nasal form of the Sputnik V vaccine has been produced and it is expected to be available internationally next year. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he has received a nasal COVID-19 vaccine.

Sputnik V WHO Inspection

During the Wednesday press conference, the RDIF CEO also revealed that the World Health Organisation (WHO) inspection of Sputnik V's registration procedure is expected in December.

"The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation is now in dialogue with WHO, we expect an inspection in December and we see some progress," Dmitriev said.

In early October, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that all barriers blocking the recognition of the Sputnik V vaccine in the WHO had been removed, but some administrative procedures remained. Later, Dmitriev noted that the fund was awaiting approval from the WHO in the next couple of months.

EMA Assessment

A spokesperson for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said that the agency continues to assess the Russian vaccine, and while the process is taking longer than expected, it's hoped it will speed up.

"As for Sputnik and Sinovac, [the assessment] continues," said EMA's Marco Cavalieri. "It goes a little longer than expected ... But we hope that we can speed up the process on both of these vaccines as soon as possible."

Approved in more than 71 countries, Sputnik V is being assessed by the EMA since March. The vaccine efficacy was estimated to be 97.6% based on the analysis of the data provided after the vaccination of some 3,8 million Russians, which is higher than the figures published earlier by the medical journal The Lancet (91.6%).

Sputnik's Efficacy

The RDIF outlined that data on the vaccination of people in Argentina, San Marino, Serbia, Hungary, Bahrain, Mexico, UAE and other nations demonstrates that Sputnik V is one of the safest and most effective vaccines against the ongoing coronavirus.

Particularly, the RDIF referred to recent data from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of San Marino, which demonstrates it is 80% effective against a coronavirus infection from 6 to 8 months after administering a second dose. Moreover, the efficacy of Sputnik V in 6-8 months is believed to be much higher than that of mRNA vaccines.

"Sputnik V team believes that adenoviral vaccines provide for longer efficacy than mRNA vaccines due to longer antibody and T-cell response", the RDIF said in a press release.