Manufacturers of Sputnik V and Sputnik Lite vaccines against coronavirus will be able, if necessary, to supply hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccine adapted against the omicron strain to the markets by February 20, 2022, said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
“The Gamaleya Institute believes that Sputnik V and Sputnik Lite neutralize the omicron strain because they are effective against other mutations. In the unlikely event that modification is required, we will deliver several hundred million booster doses of Sputnik by February 20, 2022,” TASS quoted Dmitriev as saying.
Earlier, the WHO announced that people who have had COVID-19 are at risk of infection with the omicron strain.
At the end of November, it became known that a new strain of coronavirus B.1.1.529 was detected in Botswana and South Africa. During its an emergency meeting held on November 26, the WHO designated the new mutation named omicron as “a variant of concern”. Israel, the EU and some other countries have imposed a ban on entry from some African states.
According to foreign media, about a hundred infected people were registered in South Africa. Several cases were identified in Hong Kong, Israel, Australia, and a number of European countries. In all these cases, the virus was imported from abroad.
