How safe and effective is the new Russian coronavirus vaccine?

Russia and China have coronavirus vaccines that they are selling to other countries. Are they safe and do they work? That remains to be seen.

Russian Vaccine

(https://abcn.ws/2RN63cD) A month ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the release of Sputnik V, the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine. As with other countries around the world, many aspects of clinical trials are fast-tracked to get a safe coronavirus vaccine to the marketplace.

The Russian vaccine was fast-tracked and is said to be in strict accordance with Russian laws, International Practice, and Regulations. However, there is no supporting data to document what was done and how the safety and efficacy of Sputnik V were determined.

Clinical trials start with small groups and gradually increase the population size to many thousands before the coronavirus vaccine is approved. In late August, two groups of 38 volunteers were given the vaccine. Many scientists think this is not enough testing to determine the true safety of the vaccine.

Russian plans were to continue clinical trials with 1,600 volunteers and then include 40,000 volunteers. However, this did not happen before the vaccine was released for public use. People are naturally skeptical of any new medicine, especially when it has been fast-tracked and not tested on many people. Industrial production has begun, and mass vaccinations are planned for October.

Vaccine Variant

What has been learned is that the Gamaleva Institute in Moscow in conjunction with the Russian Defense Ministry used a common cold virus (adenovirus) and modified it to carry the SARS-Co-V-2 spike genes. It was felt that this would expedite the vaccine. This technique has been used by China (CanSino) and the United Kingdom (Oxford University) and United Kingdom-Sweden (AstraZeneca).  Other companies have published the results of their tests. Russia has not.

(https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/russia/) Statistics show that 1.1 million Russian citizens have become infected and that over 900,000 have recovered – a remarkable success! Nearly 20,000 have died – another remarkable record.

China Vaccine

(https://wapo.st/2FP11tL) is a recent Washington Post article describing the progress of the Chinese coronavirus vaccine. There are geopolitical dynamics, challenges, and rewards with having the first coronavirus vaccines available first. Both Russia and China appear to be moving forward without the full results of a typical Phase 3 clinical trials. Time will tell if both coronavirus vaccines are safe and effective.

Typically, a vaccine cannot be registered for use until it has successfully completed Phase 3 clinical trials. Both Russia and China skipped this requirement. Subtle undertones are being heard that the United States (and other countries) may also want to short-cut the established safety protocols.
China is initially producing 300 million coronavirus vaccine doses for domestic use. Production will increase before the end of the year. Four other coronavirus vaccines are currently under development in China.

Worldwide Distribution

China stated that it will supply required coronavirus vaccines to the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Morocco, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, and Bahrain for vaccine trials. Part of the reason for testing outside China is that they state there are too few coronavirus cases at home to do adequate testing.

Russian sources tell us that they will provide 20 million coronavirus vaccine doses to their citizens and 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses to India.

AstraZeneca halted clinical trials recently and has now resumed, but only overseas – not in the United States. Egypt has ordered 30 million doses of the Chinese coronavirus vaccine. In addition to India, Russia has confirmed orders from Brazil, Mexico, and Kazakhstan.

China reports no adverse reactions or reinfection from any of the coronavirus vaccine doses administered to hundreds of thousands of people.

Conclusion

Is there a risk releasing and administering a coronavirus vaccine to millions of people before it has been properly vetted by traditional protocols? Yes. China claims 85,000 people infected with COVID-19 and 80,000 have recovered with less than 5,000 death attributable to the SARS-Co-V-2 virus (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/). Is that realistic? I honestly do not think so.

Even the statistics from Russian COVID-19 infections and recoveries seem a bit unrealistic. Risks are being taken for many reasons. If there are early problems causing death and long-term recovery health issues, it might cause others to wait out the initial coronavirus vaccine availability and look for something maybe safer months further down the road.

Live Longer & Enjoy Life! – Red O’Laughlin – RedOLaughlin.com

 

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