2 000 volunteers inoculated with both portions of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V have not contracted the disease said the head of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
MOSCOW – None of the 2 000 volunteers inoculated with both portions of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V have contracted the disease, the head of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology told Sputnik on Monday, refuting media reports.
Claims are circulating in Telegram channels that some volunteers have got infected after contact with coronavirus-positive people despite receiving the vaccine and, therefore, forming antibodies.
“What does it mean ‘they fell ill’? They are not considered inoculated after receiving the first portion. They start forming antibodies on the fourth or the fifth day, so, they reach plateau on the 15th day in the best case, while it can also happen on the 21st or even the 28th day. In fact, they are considered inoculated only after receiving the second portion of the vaccine, on the 42nd day after getting the first portion. Has anyone fallen ill on the 42nd day?” Alexander Gintsburg said, stressing that a person can be considered vaccinated only on the 21st day after receiving the second portion of Sputnik V.
Gintsburg noted that “falling ill” and “being infected” were different things.
“Around 2 000 people have received the first and the second portion of the vaccine. There are no [infected] people among them,” the head of the Gamaleya institute concluded.
