The Gamaleya Center has developed a variant of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine modified for the delta strain, Interfax reports with reference to Alexander Ginzburg, the head of the institution, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“The ready vaccine structure is already in the refrigerator,” the scientist said. He admitted that it is too early to talk about the degree of effectiveness of this vaccine.
“Everyone has started developing a vaccine based on the sequence of the delta variant, but no one can say whether it is going to be more effective than existing vaccines against the delta,” Ginzburg said.
High mortality rates from coronavirus against the background of the decline in the number of new cases in the Russian Federation are associated with the dominance of the delta strain; other mutations are possible in the future, but it is impossible to say whether they will be more dangerous, Ginzburg added.
“Now virtually all the patients have the delta variant. In unvaccinated patients the infectious process takes not two or three weeks, as with other variants, but four or five days. And our immune system produces antibodies in 10 to 14 days. With other variants of the coronavirus, it managed to do that, and brilliant resuscitators helped the infected people to survive until the immune system got in. And in the case of the delta variant, the immune system does not have enough time, ” Ginzburg said in his answer to the corresponding question.
The scientist believes that new strains may appear. The academician also added that an accurate forecast was not possible.