Russia announces second coronavirus vaccine 94% efficacy, also works against all strains

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The second Russian vaccine against coronavirus, EpiVacCorona, is 94% effective in older people and provides immunity for at least one year, said Alexandr Semyonov, director of the Vektor National Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, the manufacturer of the preparation, on Wednesday.

“The use of the vaccine generates effective antibodies in 94% of cases, and in the rest, it protects against severe development of the infection,” Semyonov told Vesti FM radio station.

Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s consumer protection agency, which acts as a health regulator, said that this percentage of the efficacy of EpiVaCorona had been established in clinical trials with people over 60 years of age.

“It works against all known variants, against the British, South American, and South African variants,” Semyonov said.

The vaccine, he added, can be rapidly modified for use against new emerging strains of the disease-causing coronavirus COVID-19.

The scientist said that EpiVacCorona provides immunity against the coronavirus for one year, and “theoretically, it should be two years.”

“At the moment, we do not dare to give an official prognosis because it has been a short time. The first vaccines were vaccinated very recently,” explained Semyonov, who reminded that EpiVacVCorona is in the third phase of clinical trials.

The second vaccine registered in Russia – after Sputnik V – is administered in two doses and generates the required amount of antibodies 42 days after the first injection.

The head of Vektor said that 1.5 million doses of EpiVacCorona would be produced this month, and in May and June, production will rise to 3 and 5 million doses, respectively.

Russia has so far accumulated more than 4.6 million Covid-19 positives and 101,480 deaths related to the disease.

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