14% of Russians vaccinated with the Covid-19 drug, Sputnik V, showed side effects, Mikhail Murashko, Russia’s health minister, admitted today.
“More than 300 people were vaccinated. About 14% of them complained of a little weakness, slight muscle aches throughout the day, and sometimes fever,” Murashko told reporters, quoted by the TASS agency.
According to the head of Health, these are predictable reactions, “just what is described in the instructions.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that one of his daughters was vaccinated and is well, although he admitted that he had a fever for the first two days.
Russia has been the first country to announce the registration of a vaccine against Covid-19. However, it has done so amid the skepticism of the world scientific community and many states for not having made public the clinical trials’ details to verify its effectiveness.
However, in early August, the British medical journal “The Lancet” published a study indicating that preliminary results of clinical trials of the vaccine had not yielded adverse effects, in addition to highlighting that Sputnik V generated antibodies against the coronavirus.
Russia is recruiting 40,000 volunteers for the third phase of Sputnik V clinical analysis, the results of which will be known in October-November, after which the Russian vaccine would be supplied to the local and foreign population.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the registration of the first coronavirus vaccine in August, Latin American countries are among the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It has been more interested than anyone in receiving the first doses.
In response, Russia opted for Latin America as a platform for the sale of Sputnik V and clinical analysis, technology transfer, and joint production.
Russia has set its sights on the two most populated countries on the continent: Brazil, the third country in the world with the most cases of coronavirus (more than 4.2 million), and Mexico, the seventh on the list (more than 650 thousand) behind Russia, Peru and Colombia.
In the case of Mexico, he admitted that there is still no definitive agreement for joint production. However, Moscow has signed a contract with the pharmaceutical company Lansteiner Scientific for 32 million doses, which will allow it to supply a quarter of the country’s population.
