Russian Vaccine Developer Says Delta Variant Of COVID-19 Is More Aggressive

JAKARTA - The developer of the COVID-19 virus Sputnik, alerted by Russia, claims that the vaccine is able to protect the recipient from various types of coronaviruses that are known to exist in the world today.

Head of vaccine development, Gamaleya National Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Alexander Ginsburg said this was possible in line with the antibodies developed by his party.

"The antibodies resulting from the use of Sputnik V protect against all currently known variants of COVID-19, from the British strain to the Delta Indian strain", Ginsburg told Rossiya-1 as quoted by TASS, Monday, June 21.

Ginsburg further explained, the Delta variant of COVID-19, which was first discovered in India, is a variant that causes a faster transition from mild symptoms to more serious types of disease.

"It (the Indian strain) is more aggressive, reducing the transition time from mild symptoms to serious forms of the disease, thereby cutting the time the antibody is likely to appear on its own", Ginsburg said.

The Sputnik V vaccine is not only used in Russia, but also in various countries around the world. Late last month, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) signed an agreement with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), on the supply of a COVID-19 vaccine.

A total of 220 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine will be prepared for UNICEF. Previously, RDIF announced that it had applied to the World Health Organization (WHO) for registration and pre-qualification of Sputnik V in October 2020. WHO's decision is expected to be published in the near future.

The RDIF will also hold talks with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), to discuss the possibility of including Sputnik V in the COVAX portfolio of coronavirus vaccines.

For information, Russia recorded 5.316.826 cases of COVID-19, while 4.869.972 people have recovered and 129.361 died since last year's pandemic.