"We believe that new vaccines based on new platforms need to be checked for lack of long term consequences even if they complete phase 3 trials", Tsarenko said as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expands its safety probe into the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The professor stressed the risks connected with this vaccine development method, based on the recent incidents.
"The annual incidence of transverse myelitis ranges from 1.34 to 4.60 cases per million. The likelihood of having 2 cases of transverse myelitis in AstraZeneca trial, which is what allegedly happened is less than 1 in 22,000 (0.00495%)", Tsarenko emphasized, noting that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine was developed on the tried-and-true platform of human adenovirus.
The trials are now being restarted in the United Kingdom and other countries, but the United States has not yet given the go-ahead to restart trials.
Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, was registered by the Russian Health Ministry on 11 August, becoming the first registered vaccine against COVID-19 in the world. It is in phase 3 trials at the moment.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, which uses a chimpanzee adenovirus-based vector, is being developed in partnership with the Oxford University's Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Group and is in its phase 3 trials, which is the final stage before safety and efficacy data can be submitted to health regulators for approval.