Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Russia's Sputnik V Vaccine Is 92% Effective At Protecting Against Covid
NPR: Russia's COVID-19 Vaccine Reported To Be 92% Effective
Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is 92% effective in protecting people from developing COVID-19 symptoms, according to a study published in The Lancet on Tuesday. The study follows a Phase 3 trial in Moscow hospitals and clinics that included nearly 22,000 participants age 18 and older. The vaccine, known as Gam-COVID-Vac, "was well tolerated in a large cohort," the researchers said. It was administered in two doses, 21 days apart. (Chappell, 2/2)
The Washington Post: Russian Vaccine Sputnik V More Than 90% Effective In Interim Trial
The Russian vaccine effort has been criticized for being too rushed, elevating nationalistic competition over scientific evidence. The publication in the Lancet, a British medical journal, marks the first large-scale, peer-reviewed results to be published showing the performance of Sputnik V — despite the fact that the vaccine has been in broad use in Russia and is being rolled out to other countries. Outside experts said the data convincingly shows the vaccine works. But because the trial was conducted in Russia in the fall, before the spread of virus variants that have shown signs of eroding vaccine effectiveness, questions loom about how protective the vaccine will be in the face of emerging threats. (Taylor and Johnson, 2/2)
Fox News: Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine 91.6% Effective Against COVID-19 In Late-Stage Trial: Study
The most common side effects were "flu-like illness, injection site reactions, headache" and weakness, per the study. There were also four deaths reported among trial participants, (three in the vaccine group) but none were found to be associated with the vaccine. Among the vaccine group, two deaths were tied to COVID-19; "these two participants were probably already infected with SARS-CoV-2 at the time of randomisation and vaccination," study authors wrote. The other death involved a spine fracture. The death in the placebo group involved a hemorrhagic stroke. (Rivas, 2/2)
Mexico has approved use of the Russian vaccine —
AP: Russia's Coronavirus Vaccine Approved For Use In Mexico
Mexico approved the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V for use Tuesday, just hours after the publication of early results of an advanced study saying it is about 91% effective. Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell, the government’s pandemic spokesman, said the health ministry signed a contract Monday for 400,000 doses of Sputnik V that will arrive this month. That is still a tiny amount for Mexico’s 126 million people. (Delgado, 2/3)
