The president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region has placed a pre-order for 500,000 Sputnik V vaccines against Covid-19 directly from the Russian ambassador. What is special about this product and why is it not used in France?
- Renaud Muselier ordered this vaccine directly from the Russian Embassy in France
- European health authorities have not yet given the green light to the use of the Sputnik vaccine
- Its effectiveness would reach 94% with adverse effects deemed “very mild”
It’s official, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region could be the first in France to have the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19. Its president, Renaud Muselier announced that he had placed a pre-order of 500,000 doses with the Russian ambassador. But the realization of this initiative remains dependent on the authorization of the European authorities. For now, France and other European countries are waiting for the European Medicines Agency to authorize the marketing of this Russian vaccine. Indeed, since March 4, the body has been studying the clinical data of Sputnik V in order to rule on its effectiveness and safety. If he obtains this green light, Renaud Musselier wishes to make these doses available to the Regional Health Agency so that it can distribute them to the various vaccinodromes in the region.
Sputnik V, 91.6% effective and without major adverse effects
The Sputnik V vaccine uses virus-based technology and requires two doses to vaccinate a person. Officially, this product was born last August when Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly endorsed it. At that time, phase 3 clinical trials – i.e. those performed on humans – had not started and the results of phases 1 and 2 were not yet published. Thus, at the beginning, a large part of the scientific community did not support Sputnik V. Then, last February, thehe first conclusions have been published in the journal The Lanceyou. Phases 1 and 2 were satisfactory, as was the first data of phase 3. This showed an effectiveness rate of 91.6% for the Russian vaccine, against 94 and 95% for those of Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna. Finally, 94% of the adverse effects reported were very mild. This third phase was carried out on 22,000 volunteers, 14,964 of whom had been vaccinated between September and November 2020. The others had received a placebo.
More than forty countries are already using Sputnik V
Russia began using this vaccine – the only one available in the country – for the general public last December. It was first intended for health professionals and teachers, by appointment. The rest of the population had to queue in vaccinodromes. A little less than two months after the first injections, last February, approximately two million people had received at least one dose of Sputnik V, i.e. 3 individuals out of 100 since the Russian population has more than 144 million inhabitants… Which does not however prevent Sputnik V from being exported. So far, more than forty countries have used this vaccine, including Argentina, Mexico, Morocco, Kenya and even Hungary and Slovakia, which did not wait for the green light from the European agency. of the drug. In addition to the effectiveness it displays, Sputnik V would have two other advantages: it can be kept in a refrigerator, between 2 and 8°C, and the dose is sold at 8 euros, or 16 euros to vaccinate a person. A price half cheaper than those of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, around 15 euros per dose, for a budget of around 30 euros per vaccinated individual. But AstraZeneca remains the winner of the race for the lowest price: around two euros per dose, or 4 euros to vaccinate a patient.
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