Does Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine have an answer for Omicron?

Head of Russia's Gamaleya Research Center, Alexander Gintsburg, on Tuesday said that the effectiveness of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine against the Omicron variant is 75%.

"In the population, the effectiveness of the Sputnik V vaccine in relation to Omicron is 75%," Gintsburg said in the Rossiya Segodnya press center, adding that protection increases to 100% if the person receives a Sputnik Light booster dose in six months.

The Gamaleya head warned that the efficacy would decrease to 56-57% if revaccination is not done.


The Sputnik V effectiveness against Omicron decreases by eight times but it is still enough for protection, said Gintsburg as reported by ANI, adding that the effectiveness of other vaccines decreases by 21 times.

Bharat Biotech last week said a booster shot of its vaccine Covaxin would neutralise both Omicron and Delta variants of Covid-19.

"The neutralisation activity of Covaxin-boosted sera was comparable to what has been observed in mRNA vaccine-boosted sera against the Omicron variant," Bharat Biotech said in a statement. "More than 90% of all individuals boosted with Covaxin showed neutralising antibodies."

India is currently witnessing the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic led by the Omicron variant, reporting over 2.38 lakh new infections in the last 24 hours, of which 8,891 cases are of Omicron.

The country is using Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V for its vaccination drive.

(With inputs from agencies)