The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) announces the approval of the Russian single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine against coronavirus by the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan.
Sputnik Light is the first component (recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26)) of Sputnik V. Sputnik Light demonstrated 79.4% efficacy according to analyzed data taken from 28 days after the injection was administered.
The data was obtained from Russians vaccinated with a single injection, having not received the second one for any reason during the mass vaccination program between December 5, 2020 and April 15, 2021. An efficacy level of near 80% is higher than that of many two-dose vaccines.
In February 2021, Kazakhstan approved the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine and launched its production at the Karaganda pharmaceutical complex following a technology transfer from RDIF and the Gamaleya Center. To date Sputnik V has been authorized in 67 countries with total population of over 3.5 billion people.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said:
Sputnik V is already successfully used in Kazakhstan to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Registration of Sputnik Light will help provide the country with another highly effective and safe vaccine against coronavirus. Single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine will enable authorities to speed up the vaccination of the population and accelerate the creation of herd immunity.
