Putin tests experimental nasal vaccine against COVID-19

By DARIA LITVINOVA

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday helium has taken an experimental nasal vaccine against the coronavirus, 3 days aft helium received his booster shot.

Russia is facing its worst surge of infections and deaths since the pandemic began and is struggling to flooded wide vaccine hesitancy.

Putin was vaccinated with Sputnik V, Russia’s domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, successful the spring. On Sunday, helium said helium received a booster changeable of Sputnik Light, the one-dose mentation of the jab, and said helium wanted to instrumentality portion successful investigating the nasal mentation of Sputnik V.

Denis Logunov, lawman manager of Russia’s state-funded Gamaleya Center that developed Sputnik V, told Putin connected Sunday the nasal vaccine is yet to spell done objective studies and is presently being tested “off-label mostly” — connected the center’s unit members.

In accordance with established technological protocols, the vaccine volition request to spell done respective proceedings phases, including those involving thousands of people, to found that it is harmless and effectual to use.

Last month, Russia’s Health Ministry gave a regulatory go-ahead to aboriginal trials of the nasal signifier of Sputnik V among 500 volunteers, but it was not instantly wide whether it has already started.

Putin told a authorities gathering Wednesday that “exactly six months aft vaccination my titers of protective (antibodies) person dropped, and specialists recommended the process of revaccination, which I did.”

He said helium didn’t acquisition immoderate unpleasant effects aft taking the nasal vaccine.

In caller weeks, Russia has been swept by its highest ever COVID-19 surge, with officials regularly registering record-high numbers of caller infections and deaths.

The surge came amid debased vaccination rates and lax nationalist attitudes toward taking precautions. Fewer than 40% of Russia’s astir 146 cardinal radical person been afloat vaccinated, adjacent though the state approved a domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine months earlier astir of the world.

Russians are presently offered 4 domestically developed vaccines, with Sputnik V and Sputnik Light dominating the market. Data connected efficacy of 2 different ones, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac, is yet to beryllium released; conscionable similar Sputnik V, these 2 shots person been fixed regulatory support earlier completing late-stage trials indispensable to found their effectiveness successful preventing disease.

Russia’s Health Ministry is expected to o.k. a mentation of Sputnik V for teenagers aged 12 to 17 connected Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told Putin during the authorities meeting.

According to the Russia’s authorities registry of objective trials, the jab, which is successful essence a smaller dose of Sputnik V, was being tested connected much than 3,600 volunteers. No information connected its efficacy has been released yet.

The immunization thrust successful Russia has been hampered by wide vaccine hesitancy. A canvass released by the autarkic pollster Levada Center earlier this period showed that 45% of Russians weren’t consenting to get domestically developed shots.

In an effort to boost vaccine uptake, doctors from 11 Russian hospitals released an unfastened missive Wednesday, inviting those skeptical of vaccines — and a fig of salient nationalist figures successful peculiar who are known to aerial their skepticism successful nationalist — to sojourn coronavirus wards and intensive attraction units with COVID-19 patients.

“Maybe aft that you’ll alteration your caput and less radical volition beryllium dying,” the missive read.

Russia’s authorities coronavirus task unit reported 33,558 caller infections connected Wednesday and 1,240 deaths. Golikova called the regular mortality numbers “dramatic,” noting astatine the aforesaid clip that contagions successful the state person taken a downward trend.

In total, the task unit has reported implicit 9.4 cardinal confirmed infections and much than 267,000 COVID-19 deaths, by acold the highest decease toll successful Europe. Some experts judge the existent fig is adjacent higher.

Reports by Russia’s statistical service, Rosstat, that tally coronavirus-linked deaths retroactively, uncover overmuch higher mortality. They accidental 462,000 radical with COVID-19 died betwixt April 2020 and September of this year.

Russian officials person said the task unit lone includes deaths for which COVID-19 was the main cause, and uses information from aesculapian facilities. Rosstat uses wider criteria for counting virus-related deaths and takes its numbers from civilian registry offices wherever registering a decease is finalized.

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