Update: the Russian Vaccine

With quite a lot of controversy surrounding it when initially announced by the Russian government (due to a lack of transparency), data pertaining to the Sputnik vaccine is now available to the general public. The results of the reported phase one and two of human trials of this questionable vaccine have been published in the medical journal, the Lancet.

Contrary to popular belief, the platform the Russian scientists are using is not novel in nature, rather its the same technology utilized by other experimental vaccines like the Oxford University vaccine, the Ad26 vaccine (one developed by Johnson and Johnson), and the Ad5 vaccine (one developed by Chinese pharmaceutical giant, CanSino Biologicals). This vaccine platform could be simplified as enzymes which initiate the creation of the necessary antibodies by the human immunity system.

However, unlike its other counterparts, the Russian vaccine relatively seems to be less efficient. Additionally, there’s no substantial data to indicate how long this vaccine would be effective (making it similar to a common flu shot).

In conclusion, despite the publication of the vaccine data, the efficiency of this Russian vaccine is still up for debate and a source of political controversy.